Nigerian university libraries: What future?

The future of Nigerian university libraries is threatened by press underfunding, inadequate collections and facilities. These worrysome problems which have bedevilled the libraries since the 1980s persist due to the continued low level of book production, scarcity of foreign currency to import books and journals, and the continued proliferation of universities despite the economic recession in the country. The Nigerian federal and state governments, which are the sole financiers of the 38 universities in the country, lack the financial resources to fund them adequately. To prevent the collapse of the universities and their libraries, organizations such as the World Bank, oil companies, and banks, are being brought in to assist the governments. The federal government and its central coordinating body for the universities, the National Universities Commission (NUC), are encouraging the universities to seek and achieve sustainability by prudent spending and vigorous diversification of their revenue bases and investments in order to survive. This article examines the issues involved. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited.