Regardless of its dynamic nature, change is a constant feature in human activities. Consequently, organizations are usually challenged to find ways and means of adapting to the inevitable impact of the forces of change. Since the last century, society has been under a constant state of flux due to the forces of globalization and the information and communication technology.
The core object of higher education is the continuous effort in transferring current and relevant knowledge to knowledge seekers for the advancement of the society. This means that higher educational approach in any society is in response to, both, the peculiarities' of the society, and the global standard of the business (cutting-edge).
For example, a war-torn country is more disposed to developing an educational policies, structure, philosophy and curriculum that is pro-poor, national unification, rehabilitation and reconstruction, nay development-oriented than the country that is already at an advanced level of development whose educational policies, philosophy, structures and curriculum are preoccupied with the object of producing self-sufficient individuals that would survive in about any situation and acclimatize seamlessly to any condition.
In Nigeria, the development of higher education is no exception.
During the period just after the political independence in 1960, the task facing the country was enormous. There was an urgent need to transform the country from the debris of colonialism, to fight the battle of underdevelopment, and the urgent need to assert the proof of qualification to self-governance. This is not also without the focus on unification as Nigeria managed to survive the outbreak of a civil war a decade after.
Subsequently, in the period after 1980, due to the explosion in population, not only has the demand for higher education tremendously increased the number of higher education institutions also increased but not without a disparity with the demand for higher education. The number of college-aged children consistently rose, the government responded by liberalizing the laws guiding the provision and operation of higher institutions.
As a corollary, there exists a mismatch in the quantity and quality of universities' outputs (what most people refer to, now, as unemployable graduates) and the labor demands of employers' industries (both public and private). The difference between the absorbed graduates and the total number of graduates, which is constantly increasing, is the number of unemployed graduates. Thus, another serious social problem of unemployment emerges.
The Nigerian government was, now, challenged with the twin problem of providing the social service- education for the increasing number of college-aged children, and tackling the antagonist of economic development- unemployment. Unfortunately, these problems have, however, managed to survive to the present day Nigeria. This is because there has been no deliberate attempt to address their original causes. While Nigeria now has sufficient manpower to champion her course of development, the educational philosophy, policies, structures, curriculum, and pattern of administration remains majorly unchanged.
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