The first online universities programme accreditation portal was last weekend, inaugurated at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Cross River State, by the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa'i.

The Minister also inaugurated the N500 million e-learning platform at the UNICAL library.

The portal, an initiative of the National Universities Commission (NUC) Database project, will, among other benefits, ease the accreditation process, check the excesses of institutions that enroll more than the approved number of students, and provide greater visibility for Nigerian universities.

Rufa'i said the system would kick start an ICT revolution in the administration of the country's universities.

She said it was time Nigerians stopped lamenting that their universities are poorly rated on the African continent in particular and the world in general.

Her words, ``We know that the poor rating is not due to lack of the required intellectual capacity but basically due to poor management of the resources in our institution and our inability to use the internet.

"This project is therefore a bold step towards building world-class universities in Nigeria. The management of our university system will definitely be the same again. The initiative is in line with the agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan."

She said that the Federal government was committed to the development of ICT to facilitate effective and efficient management of the system.

According to her the project was a product of the NUC data base project established by the Federal Government in 2008 to help enforce the laws establishing and sensitizing the university system.

Executive Secretary National Universities Commission, Prof, Julius Okojie, said that the world is moving very quickly in internet and Information Communication Technology that the NUC had impressed on university system to be internet ready. He said that the portal was an initiative aimed at fully automating the accreditation of academic programmes offered in Nigerian universities.

Okojie, who highlighted the problem of capacity building, said the NUC will interact with development partners and evolve public-private partnership to encourage the university system to grow.

The inauguration of the portal was followed by a workshop for ICT directors and directors of Academic Planning of universities to familiarize them with the workings of the portal.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof James Epoke, said the institution was happy to host the forum.

According to him the occasion was appropriate at the time the university system in Nigeria is at the lower rung of the ranking scale.

The Myschool Team.