Academic Excellence and Higher Education in Nigeria: towards meeting the Millenium Development Goals in Higher Education

Abstract

Economic and social developments (which are among the cardinal objectives of the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs) are increasingly driven by the advancement and application of knowledge (Saint et al 2006). Thus knowledge has become the most important factor for economic development in the 21st century. Yet the potential of higher education systems in developing countries to fulfill this responsibility is frequently thwarted by long-standing problems of finance, efficiency, equity, and governance resulting in poor quality knowledge and subsequently poor economy. While developed economies are benefiting from this, many developing countries have neither articulated a development strategy linking knowledge to economic growth nor built up their capacity to do so. Nigeria is one of these. If Nigeria must have a chance of participating in the emerging global knowledge economy, therefore, good quality higher education must be provided. In this light, Academic Excellence in higher education must be pursued with all seriousness. Hence, the paper focuses on academic excellence in higher education with particular emphasis on Nigerian; and discusses some basic standards necessary for institutions to attain such excellence.