Nigeria’s higher education system finds itself in a distressing predicament—its science and technology training grounds, including university labs and polytechnic workshops, are deteriorating at an alarming rate. This isn’t just about peeling paint or broken benches; it’s about giving up on the very foundation of applied education. From Federal Polytechnic Offa in Kwara State to Ekiti State University and LAUTECH, students and educators alike are sounding the alarm, warning of a looming generational failure if these facilities remain ignored.
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Widespread Disrepair Across Campuses in Nigerian Higher Institutions
Our exclusive tour in June 2025 across institutions of different tiers—federal, state, and polytechnics—unveiled a consistent pattern: missing or unserviced equipment, non-resilient infrastructure, and extensive reliance on theoretical learning to substitute practical sessions.
- Federal Polytechnic Offa, Kwara State
Engineering undergraduates report that what should be hands-on practical classes are often theoretical lectures. “We are supposed to graduate as engineers, but with this kind of training, we’re more like paper engineers,” one mechanical engineering student lamented. - The Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State
Students in civil engineering haven’t seen a fully operational soil mechanics lab in years, and are forced to learn via online videos due to the absence of working equipment. - Ekiti State University (EKSU)
Chemistry and Physics final-year students speak of decrepit lab spaces, obsolete tools, and inadequate funding—making real-world project execution almost impossible. - Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso
Despite being a technical hub, the university’s workshops are largely abandoned. Students report improvising with makeshift materials despite paying departmental fees.
What Drives This Structural Collapse Across Nigerian Higher Institutions?
1. A Disastrous Maintenance Culture
Many universities possess outdated or abandoned equipment—some purchased only for ribbon-cutting ceremonies. What followed was a steep decline into disuse due to lack of maintenance, repair parts, or follow-up support.
2. Bureaucracy and Funding Shortfalls
Lab renovation proposals get stuck in administrative gridlock. When approvals arrive, they’re too small to cover actual needs. Where funds exist, procurement mishaps and corruption often lead to poor-quality tools.
3. Threats to Graduate Quality and Research
Deficient hands-on training stunts students’ technical development, forcing them into retraining programs or risking unemployability. The inability to conduct real tests also devalues student and faculty research output, fostering plagiarism and recycled ideas.
4. College Fees without Returns
Students at institutions like LAUTECH pay heavy lab contributions only to resort to improvised sessions—undermining their understanding of real-world engineering and practical research skills.
Why This Matters: Beyond Campus Walls
Skills Gap Endangers National Progress
Nigeria aspires to industrial and technological leadership. Yet, the inability to graduate competent, hands-on scientists and engineers hampers global competitiveness and innovation.
Erosion of Institutional Credibility
Academic dishonesty flourishes when students—with limited access to real lab work—resort to copying existing theories. Such hollow degrees weaken the reputation of Nigerian universities.
Research Prowess Suffers
Institutions cannot generate meaningful research without functioning labs. The absence of practical avenues stalls scientific discovery and hinders international academic collaboration.
Voices from the Ground
A senior mechanical student at Offa shared his disillusionment:
“We are supposed to graduate as engineers, but with this kind of training, we’re more like paper engineers.”
Similarly, at Ibadan:
“We mostly rely on videos from YouTube to understand some experiments because our lab equipment is either broken or missing parts.”
Such accounts bring into stark relief a student body yearning for practical competence but hamstrung by institutional neglect.
Solutions on the Table
Building a Culture of Maintenance
Regular audits and service schedules for lab assets are critical. Institutions must see upkeep as continuous, not optional.
Streamlined Proposal-to-Fund Mechanisms
Simplifying approval workflows and setting up independent oversight bodies for fund and project tracking can reduce corruption and misallocation.
Public-Private Partnerships and Local Innovation
Forging relationships with industry players and embracing grassroots solutions—like the African “LabHacks” where students innovate DIY lab tools—can bypass funding gaps and tech scarcity.
Empowering Faculty Leadership
University staff should be empowered to manage and highlight lab usage data, bringing transparency to fund disbursement and equipment utilisation.
Funding Reform and Auditing
National education budgets must earmark specific, recurring funds for lab maintenance and equipment renewal, safeguarded by transparent, public reporting.
A National Call to Action
This isn’t merely an institutional oversight—it’s a national emergency. From Offa to Ogbomoso, the narrative is tragically uniform: poor grids, outdated tools, sagging research, and students learning from screens, not real machines. The time for surface-level fixes has passed.
Reform must encompass:
- A federal commitment to recurring lab maintenance budgets;
- Transparent procurement and oversight mechanisms;
- Targeted investment in STEM infrastructure;
- Support for grassroots innovation and open-source tool creation;
- Continuous monitoring by students, faculty, and civil society.
What the Future Could Look Like
Imagine Nigerian STEM graduates who have not just memorised theory, but who have learned through doing—building circuits, testing materials, and charting data in real-time. The multiplication effect here is immense: solid research leads to innovation, which supports industry growth, which, in turn, demands more research—creating a virtuous circle of progress.
Countries that invest in practical education thrive. Nigeria, rich in human potential, must not let decrepit labs and workshops nullify its ambitions. The cost of inaction isn’t just economic—it’s educational and reputational.
Conclusion
The neglect of laboratories and workshops in Nigeria’s higher institutions is not just a failure of maintenance—it’s a failure of vision. It undermines our future engineers, scientists, and researchers before their careers have begun. To transform Nigeria into a capability-driven economy, we must act now.
Implementing audit-ready maintenance systems, channelling funds effectively, incentivising public-private and grassroots partnerships, and empowering accountability are not abstract ideals—they are national imperatives. Our future depends on turning this crisis into opportunity and ensuring that every Nigerian learner graduates not merely with a certificate, but with skills that can shape innovation, create prosperity, and affirm the nation’s place in the global knowledge economy.
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