Ahmed A. Balarabe

 Abstract

There are 24 federal universities in Nigeria, all established since 1948; all of their funding comes from the central government, through the National Universities Commission. Nearly all of library funding is derived from their parent institutions. Following the short–lived oil boom of the 1970s, the Nigerian economy has been in crisis, with great dependence on foreign loans. In 1995 the foreign debt amounted to US$32.8 billion. University subsidies have decreased radically, and the money available to libraries has nearly disappeared. Acquisitions have halted in many libraries, except for donations; for example the University College Hospital, Ibadan, dropped all periodical subscriptions in 1985. In recent years libraries have had the benefit of loans from the World Bank, beginning with US$120 million in 1990. Funds are used for books, periodicals, and equipment. Administration of the loan has brought difficulties as well as rewards: failure of book agents to handle orders has been a major problem. Journal procurement — handled through a British vendor — brought no periodicals to the libraries for two years after the contract was approved. Libraries have had trouble in writing satisfactory orders since they do not have bibliographic tools. The overriding concern among librarians is what will happen when the World Bank loan program ceases; fortunately the government has initiated a new education tax, with a share of the revenue designated for libraries.

 Introduction

University development in Nigeria, although vigorous, is a relatively new phenomenon, dating back only to 1948, when the University College at Ibadan was established as an affiliate of the University of London. With Nigeria’s achievement of independence in 1960, the number of federal universities in the country has increased from two to the present total of 24.

Realizing the positive role which higher education could play in furthering national consciousness and prosperity, the then Federal Military Government of Nigeria established seven more universities in 1975 as part of the third National Development Plan (1975–1980). In spite of this development, shortages of qualified manpower, especially in the agricultural, scientific, and technological fields, were — and continue to be — among the most serious constraints on Nigeria’s economic and technological growth. To this end, a number of universities of agriculture and technology have been established since 1983, bringing the current total number of Nigerian federal universities to 24.

In Nigeria, the university/government relationship is channeled through the National Universities Commission (NUC), an independent body first set up in 1962. By statute, the NUC is responsible for the coordination, financing, and overall development of the Nigerian university system.

 Funding of Nigerian University Libraries

Nigerian universities are non–profit organizations established by either the federal government (in the case of federal universities) or state governments (in the case of state universities). The universities depend solely on the founding governments for recurrent subventions and capital grants used for day–to–day operations. Since Nigerian universities do not generate a significant proportion of their incomes internally, the major constraint affecting their income performance can be pinned to cutbacks on grants allocations by the government.

Nigerian university libraries derive funds through the parent institutions to which they are attached. Apart from the limited funds generated by the libraries from such meager sources as photocopying, book overdue fines, sale of duplicates and dated publications, and charges for loan of special items, the main sources of funds are government grants, which account for about 90 percent of the total revenue of each university.

 Nigerian Economic Crisis and the University Library System

In the early and mid–1970s, Nigeria was said to be overflowing with oil wealth, which was popularly referred to as the “oil boom.” Moreover, it was at this time that substantial financial and personal support to develop specific programmes at various Nigerian universities came from international and foreign philanthropic bodies such as the United States Agency for International Development, the British Overseas Development Agency, the Carnegie Corporation, and the Ford/Rockefeller foundations, to name a few. Unfortunately for Nigeria, the “oil boom” was short–lived, and massive international and foreign support ceased. As a result, Nigeria became faced with huge foreign debts, debilitating debt repayment schedules, greatly devalued currency, and the specter of more borrowing from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank—stringent and controversial economic policies with serious repercussions on all sectors of the nation’s development. At present, Nigeria’s external debt amounts to about US$32.8 billion, which equals 285.36 billion naira (Nigerian currency). Meanwhile, domestic debt, which has always been shadowed by the country’s excruciating external debt burden, increased by 464 percent between 1985 and 1992 [1].

In order to understand fully the devastating effects of this economic crisis on Nigerian universities and libraries, the following few speeches delivered at the convocation ceremonies of some of the country’s universities are worth quoting:

1. In the past seven years, that is from the 1981/82 session through the 1987/88 session, the amount actually released to us for our recurrent needs amounted to N134,326,485 out of N378,765,553 requested by us, leaving a shortfall of N244,439,069. The margin of disappointment was clearly on the high side: as high as 65 percent. Lastyear, 1987/88, was the leastweaskedfor:N77,748,523. We got only N25,653,504, giving a shortfall of N52,095,019 (University of Maiduguri) [2].
2. The 1987/88 financial year was very tough for almost, if not all, universities in the country because of the very slim budget we were constrained to operate. The University of Jos, for instance, received during the period a total of N14,244,000.00. This figure was about two–thirds of the previous session’s allocation. This is outrageous, seen against the background of the galloping inflation and the operation of the foreign exchange market [3].
3. Talking of survival reminds one of the difficulties this university (University of Nigeria, Nsukka) has endured for some years now. Uncompleted buildings, sparsely equipped classrooms and laboratories, cramped student and staff accommodations, absence of new acquisitions in the library, and breakdown of basic municipal services unfortunately seem to be accepted as normal [4].
4. In the area of library development, we have found ourselves in a situation where there is some danger of our universities and research institutes failing to keep in touch with modern developments. Because of the weakness of the naira, the cost of imported books has increased six– to tenfold in the last five years, and there are grave problems in providing libraries with adequate numbers of current journals and monographs, workshop manuals, and reference manuals, not only in science and technology, but in all other areas of knowledge (Ahmadu Bello University) [5].

In response to the common complaints such as these by the universities, the President of Nigeria, who is also the Visitor of these universities, stated at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, that “the country as a whole has been going through a very difficult time in the face of global economic recession and the revived national economy. The government has therefore had to trim its expenditure in all sectors (including higher education) and introduce new belt–tightening measures in order to rescue the nation from total collapse. This economic difficulty has been partly responsible for the level of funding which most of you have often described as inadequate.” [6]

Thus, like their parent universities, the Nigerian university libraries have to endure budget cutbacks at a time when the world over, the costs of book production and books have increased by up to 50 percent for books and 100 percent for journals [7]. The impact on the Nigerian university library system has been aptly summarized by a renowned university library administrator:

Table 1 vividly depicts the collection development situation of some Nigerian university libraries in 1982, when foreign journal subscriptions were generally believed to have reached their peak.

 The Rationale for the World Bank Federal Universities Adjustment Loan Project

As a result of a growing concern in and outside of the universities over the perceived decline in quality of university output, the Federal Ministry of Education, using the National Universities Commission, decided to work with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), also known as the World Bank, to identify the various problems and suggest solutions. This exercise has been on since January 1987, starting with the creation of a fact–finding team from the World Bank, which visited the universities and the NUC secretariat. When the visits were completed, a report entitled “Nigeria: Costs and Financing University Sector” was produced. This was followed by a series of consultations between the Federal Ministry of Education, the World Bank, the NUC, and the Committee of Vice–Chancellors of Federal Universities. The agreement reached was that a World Bank restructuring loan would be desirable for the federal universities in order to address the shortage of library books and journals; inadequacy of staff at the desired levels; maintenance of equipment; purchase of new equipment, spare parts and laboratory supplies; and provision of more academic space [9]. The credit facility of $120 million was eventually approved and became effective on 12 October 1990.

Table 2 below shows the overall priorities established for use of the loan funds over the three–year life span of the programme.

 University Libraries

Some of the spectacular programmes for Nigerian university libraries resulting from the World Bank credit include supply of books and journals, provision of information technology facilities and equipment, a computerization project, and staff development.

In order to ensure proper execution and coordination of the project, necessary preliminary arrangements were made. These included a series of meetings of university librarians with NUC officials, book exhibitions/fairs, and workshops (especially on computers and some modern library and information technology facilities).

The most important of the workshops was the one held at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, from 24 October to 2 November 1990. Jointly organized by the NUC and the British Council, the workshop was attended by all librarians and assistant librarians of the federal universities, officials of the two organizing bodies, and three resource persons who were librarians of the British universities of London, Sheffield, and East Anglia. The workshop yielded some positive results. For instance, it provided library chief executives the opportunity to share knowledge, and exchange ideas and experiences on the entire World Bank project as it related to their libraries. The librarians were also able to make useful recommendations on numerous issues, particularly pertaining to acquisition management, collection development efforts, bibliographic approaches, personnel development programmes, and library computerization plans. Furthermore, a five–year (1990–1995) development plan/ strategy for action during and after the World Bank project was mapped out.

For Nigerian university libraries, the most immediate practical result of the World Bank project pertains to supply of books and journals. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) library, for instance, which represents the third–generation university libraries in the country, and which by virtue of its recent establishment is less hit by the economic crisis as compared to the first–and second–generation university libraries. During the 1989/90 fiscal year, the ATBU library spent the sum of N404,277.00 on the purchase of $54,294.52 worth of Unesco coupons at the then–prevailing exchange rate of N7.3 to US$1. With these, the library acquired a very limited number of foreign imprints, monographs, and serials. Compared to this, the library processed, in the same period, orders totalling US$374,188.36 as part of the World Bank Credit. A breakdown of this figure shows that $164,818.02 was for books, $106,610.54 for journals, $47,024.80 for audiovisual equipment, and $55,735.00 for computer hardware [10].

The World Bank Credit, then, is a clear source of relief for the participating university libraries, as the project will have a far–reaching impact on their collection development. To stress this point, a summary is given below of the budgetary provisions, the actual expenditure on books, and the new books supplied to individual libraries as of March 1994. The distribution of the book funds shows that the sums of $656,907; $447,233; and $183,398 were allocated to each of the first–, second–, and third–generation universities, respectively.

Judging from the above statistics, the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, received the fewest books; while the University of Lagos expended the highest amount of money, and received the largest volume of books so far.

Related to the above is provision for journals. The sum of $12 million was budgeted for the total of 20 federal universities participating in the project: the six first–generation universities — $945,945 each; the seven second–generation universities — $644,016 each; and the seven third–generation universities — $264,093 each.

Almost all the university libraries under–utilized their allocations up to the end of July 1993 due to some technical problems associated with journal selection, subscription, and procurement. In spite of this, however, adequate arrangements were made by NUC to ensure the placement of solid orders for the 1994 and 1995 subscriptions. Moreover, the gaps in the 1993 subscriptions, which were brought about by said technical problems, were to be filled up with back sets.

Table 4 gives the total funds allocated to individual universities for journal acquisition, the amount committed, and the actual number of journal titles supplied as of March 1994.

The provision of library equipment is another important part of the World Bank Loan Project. Very few Nigerian university libraries have computers, computer software, photographic and microform facilities, audiovisual materials, or other information technology facilities critical to the operation of a modern library. Thus, from the World Bank Credit facility of $52 million allocated for the procurement of equipment and other spare parts, the sums of $94,444; $80,952; and $42,857 were allocated respectively to each of the first–, second–, and third–generation university libraries for the supply of library equipment. The libraries submitted lists of recommendations; the contract was awarded around May 1994; and the arrival of equipment to the libraries was expected within months.

 Some Constraints to the Success of the Project

The World Bank Project is not without numerous problems. Chief among them: the sheer number of materials to select within the short notice given to the libraries by the NUC; the reluctance of the faculty staff to participate in the selection of titles suitable to their teaching and research needs; the absence of qualified staff in some of the libraries; lack of current selection tools to facilitate selection; inaccessibility of bibliographic databases such as abstracting and indexing services; and serious delay in the supply of books and journals by the procurement agents. Of all the problems, however, of particular concern to the libraries is the failure of the agents to supply the selected materials in good time. As selection is in phases, quick supply of ordered materials is important in order to avoid any unnecessary and wasteful duplication of selections in subsequent phases.

According to the signed agreement with the World Bank and the NUC, the university libraries were to move to the third and final year of the project by the first quarter of 1993, but the first batch of books did not arrive in Nigeria until February of that year. Table 3 above has revealed the slow pace of the books procurement contract. While many books were ordered (as judged by the libraries’ high rate of funds utilization), the number of books supplied by the procurement agents was significantly low.

The problem of journals supply is even more pronounced, as revealed by Table IV above. A journals procurement contract was signed with Low Priced Books Ltd. of the U.K. on 2 May 1992. Up to 29 November 1993, when a meeting was held with the company and the NUC on the issue, not a single journal title had been supplied. Up to the first quarter of 1994, a number of libraries had yet to receive any journal, despite assurances made by the procurement agents that an avalanche of journals would hit the university libraries by October 1993.

The causes of the delay in the execution of the project are not hard to understand. After the approval of the credit facility by the World Bank in October 1990, the next year was spent laying a solid foundation for the project. More important, however, was the deadlock that sprang up between the World Bank and the NUC over the appointment of agents, which lasted through 1993. While the Federal Government of Nigeria felt that qualified Nigerian companies with a substantial Nigerian component should be involved, the World Bank argued that this was against its guidelines on International Competitive Bidding (ICB). The ICB stipulated that each contract should be given to the lowest evaluated bidder and not shared amongst bidders meeting all the conditions of award. This disagreement created a deadlock of nine months, during which the project stalled. However, in the spirit of quid pro quo, the disagreement was resolved, and all three contracts — namely those for books procurement, journals procurement, and equipment procurement consultancy — were signed between March and July 1992 [11].

The following emerged as successful foreign agents for books procurement:

1. B.H. Blackwell, Ltd. is to execute 50 percent of the contract.
2. Low Priced Books, Ltd. is to execute 20 percent of the contract.
3. Baker and Taylor International is to execute 15 percent of the contract.
4. Delta Safari Consortium was to execute 15 percent of the contract, but later entered into partnership with B. H. Blackwell to execute their joint shares.

As for journals procurement, Low Priced Books, Ltd. and Universal Safari Consortium won the contract. The former was to be the main contractor, executing 60 percent of the contract, while the latter was to execute 40 percent. Universal Safari, however, withdrew from the journals contract following a deadlock in its negotiations with Low Priced Books, hence creating another serious problem in the supply of journals to the university libraries.

But some of the problems associated with project execution were caused by the participating libraries and the problems they face. For instance, due to lack of current selection tools and the libraries’ inability to access major international bibliographic databases, many materials ordered proved difficult for procurement agents to find. In January 1993, Baker and Taylor International of the U.S. notified NUC that a large percentage of the titles ordered through the company for the first phase of the project could not be immediately procured due to the insufficient bibliographic information provided by the libraries [12]. The company therefore requested further verification in respect to title, binding, edition, etc. The agent further hinted that some of the materials were available in soft–cover only (when hard–cover was required), not yet published, offered by other publishers, cancelled, not found, out of print, etc.

The problems required that the lists be returned to the affected libraries for further verification, then resubmitted to the NUC for final authorization. As a result of this development, some of the materials ordered, particularly journals, were out of date by the time they were supplied to the libraries. This defeated the purpose of the weeding exercise, which was carried out by all participating libraries as one of the eligibility criteria laid down by the World Bank.

Regarding the library computerization program and the provision of other information technology facilities, obvious problems are Nigeria’s present low level of technological development, which tends to impede the availability of qualified manpower and spare parts; and the erratic electric power system of the country.

Another problem is suitability of the libraries’ environments. B.I. Ifidon once correctly pointed out that if the university library is to serve as an effective teaching and research centre, it must be suitably housed; clearly this is not invariably the case among African university libraries (including those in Nigeria) [13]. In Nigeria, most of the second– and third–generation universities lack suitable library buildings. That is, few can comfortably accommodate the large influx of books, journals, and equipment expected under the World Bank Project.

Two comparable cases in point are the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University and the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, which came into being in 1980 and 1975, respectively. While the former opened its permanent library (with a space of 2,099 square metres replacing the temporary one of 100 square metres) on 2 April 1990, the latter still occupies a temporary building meant to house fewer than 100,000 volumes and accommodate only about 450 readers (the library’s current holdings stand at more than 200,000 volumes, and the institution’s staff and student population is more than 5,000). In spite of this deplorable situation, library construction at Usmanu Danfodiyo University is at present not prioritized [14]. Such is the unfortunate situation in most of the federal university libraries in Nigeria. One therefore wonders at the omission of library building in the World Bank Project’s package.

Another issue is the libraries’ foreseeable situation. A common fear exists that after the three–year life span of the World Bank Project, a number of the libraries may not be able to continue to purchase foreign books and journals, nor maintain the equipment supplied, due to inadequate funds. Possible repercussions could include a return to the unfortunate experience of the pre–World Bank Loan period. Perhaps it is due to the realization of this problem that the government has decided to improve the financial situation of the university libraries through the promulgation of the Education Tax Decree of 1993, and by doubling its annual subvention to the libraries. The Education Tax Decree compels all companies registered in Nigeria to surrender two percent of their profits for the rehabilitation, restoration, and consolidation of education in the country. Part of the tax fund shall be administered to improve the library system at the different levels of education (primary, secondary, and higher education), and achieve a higher education book development fund [15].

Furthermore, as a result of the federal government/academic staff negotiations, and agreements on library funds in particular, each year from the 1993 fiscal year on, 10 percent (as opposed to five percent) of the total recurrent grant to each university will be fully committed to the operations of the university library. Out of this amount, 60 percent will be committed to the purchase of books and journals, while 40 percent will be committed to personnel and the purchase of other supplies required in the library [16].

Table 5 below shows the schedule of 1993 first–quarter recurrent grant releases by NUC.

 Conclusion

The early years of the Nigerian university educational system were characterized by adequate funds and rapid expansion, both dictated by the so–called “oil boom” enjoyed by the country during the early 1970s. However, by the late 1970s a glut was developing in the world oil market. Since oil at this time was the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, the glut sent reverberations into all sectors of the economy, including the university sector, which depended almost 100 percent on government subvention.

Consequently, there was a substantial reduction in the grant allocations to the universities; the allocations reached an all–time low in 1987. These universities needed to receive a substantial injection of foreign exchange in order to revamp their facilities through measures including staff development and the procurement of books, journals, and equipment. Since it was impossible for the government to commit such a large amount of its foreign currencies to the education sector, which needed an estimated $200 million, the assistance of the World Bank was considered to be the only option.

Despite numerous obstacles that have cropped up during the course of the project, it is expected that the World Bank Project will, in the long run, positively affect current and future developments of the participating libraries. This is especially true in terms of collection development, equipment provision, computerization, staff development, and general services and operations. Such factors will further have a remarkable impact on the teaching and research activities of the parent universities, thereby ensuring an improvement in the quality of Nigeria’s university educational system.

However, for the above accomplishments to come to fruition, it is imperative that all the problems characterizing the project be jointly addressed by the three parties involved: the World Bank, the National Universities Commission, and the federal university libraries of Nigeria.

 References

1. “Domestic Debt Rises by 464 Percent in 8 Years,” Guardian (Lagos), 10 March 1993, p. 9.

2. Speech of the Pro–Chancellor, 10th convocation ceremony, 4 February 1989, in:National Universities Commission (Nigeria), Convocation Speeches of Nigerian Universities (Lagos: NUC, n.d.), p. 263.

3. Speech of the Vice–Chancellor, llth convocation ceremony, 11 February 1989, in:National Universities Commission (Nigeria), Convocation Speeches of Nigerian Universities 988189 (Lagos: NUC, n.d.), p. 227.

4. Speech of the Pro–Chancellor and Chairman of Council, 23rd convocation ceremony, 10 December 1988, in: National Universities Commission (Nigeria), Convocation Speeches of Nigerian Universities 1988/89 (Lagos: NUC, n.d.), p. 278.

5. Speech of the Pro–Chancellor and Chairman of Council, 24th convocation ceremony, 21 January 1989, in: National Universities Commission (Nigeria), Convocation Speeches of Nigerian Universities 1988189 (Lagos: NUC, n.d.), p. 11.

6. Speech of the Visitor, 2nd convocation ceremony, 5 November 1988, in: National Universities Commission (Nigeria), Convocation Speeches of Nigerian Universities 1988/89( Lagos: NUC, n.d.), p. 74.

7. I.I. Ekoja, “The Effects of Austerity on Collection Development in Nigerian Diversity Libraries with Particular Reference to Usmanu Danfodiyo University Library, Sokoto, ” International Information and Library Review 24 (1992): 175.

8. B.U. Nwafor, “Funding for University Libraries in the Third World,” Third World Libraries 1–1 (Summer 1990): 25, and at http://www.worlib.org/vol01no1/nwafor_v01n1.shtml.

9. National Universities Commission (Nigeria), Special Bulletin on World Bank Federal Universities Adjustment Loan Project (Lagos: NUC, n.d.), pp. 1–10.

10. Adebimpe O. Ike, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Branch: University Library, Ninth Annual Report on the Library for 1989/90 (Bauchi, The University, n.d.), p. 7.

11. Idris A. Abdulkadir (NUC Secretary), a welcome address delivered at the opening of the NUC/World Bank Project Review and Forward–Planning Workshop on the Federal Universities Project, held at the Hamdala Hotel, Kaduna, from 26–29 April 1993. Published in The Democrat (Kaduna), 6–7 May 1993, p. 11.

12. Baker and Taylor, Information and Entertainment Services, a letter addressed to the Chairman, Project Implementation Unit, NUC, 27 January 1993.

13.B.I. Ifidon, “University Library Buildings in the Tropics: A Literature Survey,” Third World Libraries 1–1 (Summer 1990): 34, and at http://www.worlib.org/vol01no1/ifidon_v01n1.shtml.

14.I. B. Babangida, Views of the Visitor, President, Commander–in–Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the Report of the Visitation Panel to the UsmanuDanfodiyo University, Sokoto, 1975–85 (Lagos: Federal Government Printer, 1992), p. 12.

15. Education Tax Decree no. 7,1 January 1993, pp. A65–A69.

16. NUC Secretary, Letter to Vice–Chancellors (Federal Universities) on Library Funds, 18 January 1993.

 About the Author

Ahmed A. Balarabe is Senior Librarian and Librarian for Medical/Veterinary Sciences at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria. His MLS is from Ahmadu Bello University. In 1990 he attended the International Graduate Summer School, College of Librarianship, Wales. His earlier employers included the National Library of Nigeria and Kaduna State Ministry of Education. Mr. Balarabe has published articles in Nigerian journals and in the African Journal of Library, Archives & Information Science, and has presented papers at conferences of the Nigerian Library Association.

© 1995 Ahmed A. Balarabe.

Citation

Balarabe, Ahmed, A. “Nigerian University Libraries and the World Bank Loan,” Third World Libraries, Volume 5, Number 2 (Spring 1995).