The Reasearch Scene in Nigeria's Non-University Higher Institutions

Abstract

Higher education or academic research has been key to technological and socio-economic progress in the so-called “knowledge societies” of the world. However, research in Nigeria’s non-university sector is carried out in a system that is more constrained than the university system in terms of funding, human resource capacity and adequacy of infrastructural facilities. Additionally, the “publish or perish” syndrome associated with university academics has also caught up with academic staff in the nonuniversity sector. As a result, there is preponderance of basic research in this sector at the expense of applied research, which is more relevant towards meeting Nigeria’s developmental needs. This unhealthy development is in real terms a negation of the expected research orientation or specialty of the polytechnics in particular. In this paper, constraints, limitations and prospects of the non-university sector in R & D activities in Nigeria are discussed. In the light of this, recommendations are made towards revamping and sustaining research in our institutions of higher learning for national development.

Keywords: Higher education; research; non-university sector; funding; constraints; outputs.