Accreditation of Academic Programmes in Adekunle Ajasin University, Nigeria: A Librarian’s Perspective

Abstract

This paper gives a critical overview and assessment of the accreditation of academic programmes in Nigerian universities, with particular focus on university libraries. The paper reviews and interrogates the monitoring, regulatory and supervisory roles of the National Universities Commission (NUC) in ensuring quality assurance and standards in Nigerian universities, with a view to making them globally competitive. The paper also discusses the accreditation tools and accreditation grading system employed by the NUC. The importance of the library as nerve-centre in the university system is explored. The centrality of the paper focuses on missing gaps in the accreditation of the library facilities. Such missing gaps include the composition of the accreditation team that excludes librarians; the areas of disagreement between the NUC accreditation team and the librarians; and the consequences of such. In addition, the attitudes of the accreditation team towards the library professional practice are debated, and suggestions are provided that can improve the accreditation of library facilities in Nigerian universities.