Many private universities abroad thrive due to high patronage from Nigerians, according to Prof. Michael Kwanashie, the Vice-Chancellor, Veritas University (VUNA), Abuja.
Speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, Kwanashie said that the emergence of private universities in Nigeria was in response to the quest for greater access to education.
He said that the inadequacy of public universities, compelled parents to send their children to private universities abroad.
This situation, he said, necessitated the establishment of such universities in the country.
On the compliant that these universities were elitist and expensive, the vice chancellor said that such assertion did not apply to faith-based universities such as Veritas.
According to him, a student does not need to come from a rich family before attending Veritas University, as the institution is not profit-oriented but was established for service to humanity.
“Private universities in Ghana, Malaysia and Eastern Europe are thriving on the basis of Nigerian students.
“Even in Britain, many private universities thrive on Nigerian students; they always come here to recruit.
“So, we said why can’t we set up private universities here and give them same thing they get abroad; we are creating the same environment where every student matter..
“Some of those universities will fold up if Nigerian students are withdrawn; it is important that we create the supply to meet the demand for private universities.’’
He said that many parents were regret sending their children abroad because they had become culturally disoriented.
The vice chancellor said that the university was built out of a concern to develop individuals with faith content, irrespective of one’s religious belief.
He said that the motive of the institution was not profit but faith and recognition that humanity needed a moral content to thrive.
According to him, Veritas is the only private university in the FCT with full license from the National Universities Commission.
“All our programmes are fully accredited by the NUC; for the new programmes, NUC has done resource verification and approved them.
“By next year, they will come for full accreditation.’’
He said that the institution has a policy that every student must acquire an entrepreneurial skill before graduating, in order to prepare them for self-reliance.
Veritas University, otherwise called Catholic University of Nigeria, was established in 2007 with a take-off site at Obehie, Abia State.
It, however, moved to its permanent site at Bwari, FCT in 2014.
