Financing Higher Education in Nigeria: The Role of Internally Generated Revenues and How University Managements Can Maximize the Sources

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) as inevitable alternative funding for higher education in Nigeria. The paper leverages on available literatures to revalidate the inevitability of IGR as long as the government (or other university proprietors) fail(s) to provide adequate funding for the universities’ operating and capital needs. Developed from the African Political Economy (APE) Model and Resource Dependence Theory perspectives, the paper concludes that IGR has a very significant role to play as a source of critical funding for all categories of universities in Nigeria. This paper, therefore, proposes that, in order to derive sustainable maximum contribution from IGR sources, university managements should seek professional and more efficient ways of developing their IGR initiatives. The paper further recommends that universities should restructure to accommodate an IGR co-ordination office to ensure that creative revenue generating initiatives are not stifled by long bureaucratic bottlenecks. The paper will be critically beneficial to all higher education managers in Nigeria and Africa in general.

Key words: Internally Generated Revenue (IGR); Political economy; Traditional funding sources; Highly economically empowered persons; Critical funding; Funding gap