By Funmilayo Adeyemi
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has trained 60 staff on the African Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ASG-QA) to strengthen regulation in Nigerian universities.
The Executive Secretary, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, said the training was part of efforts to enhance quality assurance systems and align Nigeria with continental and global standards.
The ASG-QA framework was developed under the Harmonised Africa Quality Assurance Agencies (HAQAA) initiative to harmonise and improve quality across African higher education institutions.
It focuses on internal and external quality assurance, institutional accreditation, and promotes a unified approach to standards across universities on the continent.
Declaring the workshop open, Ribadu said the training underscored the commission’s commitment to continuous capacity development and alignment with continental quality assurance benchmarks.
Represented by the Director of Open, Distance and e-Learning, Dr Funmilayo Morebise, he urged participants to maximise the opportunity to improve regulatory effectiveness in line with global best practices.
He commended development partners, including the European Union, African Union, African Union Commission, and Association of African Universities, for supporting quality assurance initiatives.
Ribadu also acknowledged the role of the German Academic Exchange Service in promoting comparable standards and strengthening higher education systems across Africa.
He reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to advancing interconnectedness and quality assurance as a leading regulatory agency in Africa’s higher education landscape.
In his remarks, Director of Accreditation, NUC, Abraham Chundusu, commended the facilitator, Dr Joseph Bisong, for sharing technical expertise.
Chundusu said the commission remained committed to adopting global best practices while aligning them with Nigeria’s national quality assurance policies and regulatory frameworks.
Delivering a keynote paper titled “The ASG-QA and its Implications in the Continuous Repositioning of the Nigerian University System,” Bisong explained that the framework comprised three core components.
They include Internal Quality Assurance, External Quality Assurance and Review of National Quality Assurance Agencies.
Bisong, who is also the Deputy Director/Head of Open and Distance Learning Division at the NUC said
effective domestication of the framework would reposition the Nigerian university system through improved standards, and enhanced institutional autonomy.
“Harmonisation of higher education promotes shared quality criteria and comparable assessment standards across universities,” he said.
Bisong noted that adopting the framework would strengthen quality assurance mechanisms and improve alignment between university training and labour market needs.
He said Nigeria, in spite of having the largest university system in Africa, had yet to fully leverage its size due to limited harmonisation.
“The system is vast, but it has not maximised economies of scale to improve visibility, efficiency, and quality due to weak harmonisation,” he said.
He identified key challenges, including limited stakeholder engagement, weak academic mobility, and inadequate credit transfer systems across institutions.
“There is limited stakeholder engagement, absence of mutual recognition of qualifications, and poor academic mobility due to credit transfer challenges,” he said.
Bisong also highlighted issues of transparency in accreditation processes and the need for broader student participation in quality assurance activities.
“Inconsistencies in publishing accreditation results and limited student involvement remain issues that must be addressed,” he added.
He urged stakeholders to integrate ASG-QA into national regulations, strengthen quality assurance directorates, and expand digital accreditation systems across universities.
Participants recommended expanding ASG-QA training to all NUC staff, increasing student involvement, and improving funding and technological support for quality assurance systems. (NAN)
Edited by Muhyideen Jimoh
