By LAJU ARENYEKA

The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, at the ministerial platform held recently said that the Federal Government would launch its Fibre-optic Research and Education Network, connecting 27 universities to one another.  However, while some have commended the Minister’s efforts, other stakeholders in the sector are skeptical about the idea.

Prof. Olu Jegede, Dean of Education and Professor of Computer Education at Obafemi Awolowo University Ife, said; “It is a welcome development because it will reposition the tertiary education system in many ways. It will promote resource sharing among universities.

Students and faculty will have better access to theses, e-books and even laboratory facilities that belong to   their colleagues. They will also have opportunities for video conferencing; where students in one institution can view classes in another institution in real time.”

The Professor added that this initiative will in the long run increase the quality of graduates because “academics is all about interaction, and once interaction is increased, quality will also increase.”

Another academic, however, believes that such interaction should take place among polytechnics and innovative enterprise institutions instead of universities. Dr. Andrews Jegede, National President of the Association of Innovation and Vocational Institutions said that the concept of fibre-optic networks among universities will not work because universities do not deal with the technical aspect of learning.

According to him, “the universities will not be able to manage it because they lack the manpower and technical know-how to operate such a system. Some of these universities have Cisco and Oracle platforms but cannot inculcate them into the curriculum because they lack the manpower to handle the programme. After a while, such efforts will be frustrated because of these issues I have mentioned. ”

The Minister also said that the project, which is currently being tested, is part of the ministry’s initiative to make Nigerian students a priority in the development of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector. She said that the project is in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission, Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) and World Bank STEP-B in the deployment of the education network to institutions.

She said that more state universities, polytechnics and colleges of education  are expected to be connected to the network by 2014 and 2015. Towards this end, Prof. Olu Jegede opined that the Federal Government should be careful to sustain the project as well as ensure that other institutions get added to the network before the stipulated deadlines.