THE MERIT OF INTEGRATING IT IN NIGERIA VARSITIES One of the major issues generating serious concern in our country today is the slow pace of developing administrative excellence in Nigerian universities on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). It is clear that administrators must develop world-class thinking initiatives effectively and start delivering world class service. Indeed, "world-class" means being digital, getting connected, networked and rendering standard services that are equivalent to what we see and experience in universities in the developed world. Daily, universities are expanding in all ramifications, bringing increasing challenges in all aspects of administration and management. Thus, the relevance in the contemporary world entails being connected and fully equipped with the right skills and competence in contemporary management procedures. The truth is that, the great development in the ICT sector has exceedingly simplified the process of managing and sharing information, ideas and thoughts in our university settings and the society as a whole. Despite all the limitations and challenges in the universities, we can testify to the visible impact of ICT on activities of institutions in recent times. Universities like the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) have gone farther than many others in computerizing their campuses. The world is now in the era of information explosion, standards are getting higher globally and interested players must invest heavily in being able to remain on the radar and work efficiently to be credible in the eyes of their peers. Why is it that none of our universities has been able to make it on the list of the top universities in the world for some years now? Could that be partly due to the inability of our institutions to fully integrate and apply ICT in all of their operations, from teaching, research, administration to financial management? Why do many of our universities still perform the basic service through inefficient and laborious modes when they can simplify their operations using ICT? Basic tasks like admission, transcript processing and accommodation have still remained of O-level result and intra-university communication has still remained a huge area of challenge on many of our campuses because of poor utilization of ICTs. In some offices in our universities, you can still find secretaries struggling with old, rickety typewriters in the absence of computers and internet connectivity. The world has become so information-conscious that people are no longer satisfied with paper and print-based library service. It is necessary for all aspects of administration, irrespective of nomenclature, to upgrade the use of ICTs. Otherwise they stand the risk of lagging behind in responding to the demands of their office. With technology, things will be done easily, cheaply, and faster with greater satisfaction to everyone in the system. For example, using the internet, it is possible for the universities and their administration to link up both locally and internationally, to access online information on research, students, regulation and more accurate information of the university management. However, most of our administrators are either computer literate or in the process of doing so. It is a gradual process but, it has surely dawned on everyone that there can be no alternative to being competent in ICTs. Meanwhile, challenges that are likely to affect the immediate and successful implementation of such move are within the preview of the universities others are external to them. Specifically, one can identify a common problem that affects the prospect of ICTs as follows; low budget allocation to ICTs on many campuses which may be a consequence of the competing demands in the midst of scarce resources; poor electric supply in most campuses; universities are hit by the epileptic service of the national electric supply forcing them to devote substantial portions of their meager earning to providing power, though insufficiently to their campuses; high cost of ICTs - most of the ICTs are imported; poor communication infrastructure base - internal and external communication linkage on many campuses is weak, just as only few universities have radio stations in their campuses; analogue behaviour of some senior administrative officers and academic staff who are unwilling to change their mind to realities of ICTs in the universities; and low and uncoordinated support for ICTs by donors and partners to universities, among others. Finally, some of the ways that these challenges can be solved include: building and strengthening the capacity of the administrators in ICTs. Government should exempt ICTs equipment from customs and exercise tax so that the prices of such equipment will be drastically reduced and made affordable. Government should also increase funding to Nigerian universities in order to implement the national ICTs policy and encourage investors to intervene in the provision of ICT services on campuses.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 13:02:16 +0000
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