Nigerian universities have been charged to shift from a culture of dependence on government allocations to capital formation, investment and ownership through the capital market.
The call formed the thrust of the 2026 University of Ibadan Alumni Association Annual Public Service Lecture held on Friday in Ibadan.
The lecture was themed ‘First and Best But Whose Capital Built It? Rethinking How Nigeria Funds Its Own Future.
Acting President of the association, Prof. Terrumun Gajir, said the theme was timely as the nation grapples with how to mobilise capital for sustainable prosperity.
He said Nigeria must deepen domestic investment and reduce excessive dependence on external capital.
According to him, this requires mobilising pension funds, household savings and private capital for productive national development.
Gajir noted that a functional capital market would not only provide returns for investors but also build industries, infrastructure and jobs.
He said the task before universities is to move from a culture of dependence to one of capital formation, investment, ownership and shared prosperity.
Delivering the lecture, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr Emomotimi Agama, traced UI’s foundation to an audacious capital decision.
He recalled that in 1948, the chiefs and people of Ibadan donated 2,500 acres of land on a 999-year lease for the institution.
Agama noted that despite producing a Nobel Laureate, heads of state, central bank governors and builders of the capital market, UI has never approached the market to raise long-term funds.
“Not once. Not a bond. Not a fund. Not a listed vehicle. The premier university of Africa’s largest economy has been, financially speaking, a spectator at a market its own graduates built,” he said.
He argued that continuous dependence on appropriation is unsustainable given the current fiscal realities.
Agama cited the uniform TETFund allocation of N2.53 billion per university regardless of age, size or enrolment.
He also cited education’s 6 per cent share of the 2026 federal budget against UNESCO’s 15-20 per cent benchmark, and debt service of N15.91 trillion, which is four and a half times the entire education allocation.
He added that UI has about 41,700 students but its halls of residence were built for less than 10,000, forcing thousands to live off-campus.
The SEC DG stressed that the problem is not scarcity of capital in Nigeria but failure of translation.
He noted that pension assets stood at N31.48 trillion as of July 2026, while total market capitalisation on the NGX stood at N215.09 trillion.
He contrasted the N4.65 trillion raised by banks in 24 months through recapitalisation with the N2.53 billion TETFund allocation to a university, a ratio of about 1,000 to 1.
According to him, this proves that long-term capital exists and is searching for bankable, long-dated assets.
Agama proposed five instruments already permissible under the Investments and Securities Act 2025.
The first is a properly constituted endowment registered with SEC as a collective investment scheme, with an independent trustee, licensed fund manager and a 4-5 per cent spending rule.
The second is bonds and sukuk issued by a ring-fenced vehicle against a defined, revenue-generating university asset.
The third, which he described as most urgent for UI, is student housing as an asset class through a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) or concession, converting off-campus rent paid to private landlords into a university revenue stream.
The fourth is a university innovation fund to take equity in spin-outs from its laboratories and retain ownership of research output.
The fifth is a diaspora-targeted instrument leveraging the non-resident BVN framework to convert part of the $21.8 billion annual remittances from consumption to investment.
He, however, cautioned that access to the capital market comes with a price of discipline.
He listed the requirements to include yearly publication of audited accounts, credit rating by a registered agency, ring-fenced revenue that survives leadership change, and professional intermediation.
Agama charged alumni to move from gifts that are consumed to capital that compounds.
He proposed a UI Alumni Capital Fund with a small unit size to allow young graduates and diaspora to participate, with transparent governance and annual audited accounts.
Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion Chief Bayo Oyero, a Past President of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), said UI as an institution should start investing in financial markets beyond the alumni association.
Oyero, an alumnus of the university, said UI needs its own independent endowment fund, separate from the existing Alumni Endowment Fund, that could be invested in properties and other assets for reasonable returns.
He also said the discourse should be extended to young Nigerians on how to fund their own future early through shares and stocks.
Agama, in his closing, said the founders gave UI 999 years and 921 years remain.
“Nine hundred and twenty-one years remain on that 1948 lease. I do not think they gave us that much time so that we could spend it waiting for an allocation,” he said.
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