Renewing the Role of University on Manpower Development for a Democratic Settings in Nigeria

Abstract

The role of the university is statutory on manpower development in the provisions of humans whose imbibition of creativity is subjected to relevant values, abilities, skills and knowledge, energies, initiatives and attitudes that are socially incline to foster relative peace and harmony for national development. Nigeria and Nigerians are undergoing challenges of times which timely response of the university leadership and management could proffer solutions. A descriptive survey with population of 77,315 which comprised of university management staff, academic staff and non-academic for the 128 universities in Nigeria as at 2017. Based on the multistage sampling procedure, universities were clustered into six geopolitical zones while 18 were selected on the purpose of ownership. The study adopted KENPRO (2012) sampling size table for 384 respondents. Three research questions were raised. These were answered using percentage. The results show that little was recorded as an achievements of university objectives in Nigeria. It concludes that; manpower development is open to criteria on manpower planning, with a set of guidelines for improving the linkage between universities and the public and private sectors within the framework of existing institutional and policy structures which universities in Nigeria take the lead.  The study recommends among others; universities should acknowledge their unique role in manpower development through reliable, timely and well informed information to determine national needs; give more consideration to measurable outcome on occupational projection with relevant statistical data through periodic evaluation, monitoring and feedback mechanism; align all processes, structures, capabilities and capacities strategically to Nigeria environment to meet global outcomes; experiential approaches on work place behavior and ethics should be prioritized in curriculum design; redesign its linkages with communities; government agencies, civil society, professional group, local community to facilitate enhanced service delivery and higher quality of life from rural areas through participatory approaches in bringing communities into classroom.