Re- inventing Governance and Public Accountability for Improved Productivity in Nigerian Higher Institutions

Higher institutions are established with the aim of producing qualified graduates that will eventually impact positively on national development but the achievement of this goal is being affected by the lack of development in these institutions. The majority opinion in the country today is that the quality of education is low, judging by the performance of the graduates of these institutions. Furthermore, so many people are of the opinion that effective governance and public accountability in the institutions are seriously in doubt, as there are reported cases of maladministration and misapplication or misappropriation of resources with severe consequences for manpower and infrastructural development. This paper therefore attempts to examine the veracity of these issues with a view to redefining governance and public accountability in higher institutions. The paper adopts governance and development approaches in analysing the issue in contention. It notes that the chief executives of the various higher institutions in Nigerian are excessively powerful particularly in area of general administration and fund utilisation. This in most cases has telling effects on the development of the institutions. The study concludes that for Nigerian higher institutions to effectively play their assigned roles, their governance and accountability must be improved upon.