Inbreeding in Nigerian Universities: Merits and Challenges

Abstract

Inbreeding in universities is a situation whereby PhD holders or new entrants into the academia are employed in the very institution that they were trained or a student pursues a degree where he/she is currently employed. The phenomenon is becoming widespread with attendant challenges. The paper discussed the concept and dimensions of inbreeding and identified three dimensions: pure inbreed, silver-corded and non-inbreed academics. It noted that cases of inbreeding abound in Nigerian universities and highlighted factors that engender inbreeding. Merits and challenges of inbreeding were discussed. Merits include inbreeding helps to promote academic tradition, exstudents turned academics can defend the institution and its programmes, a clear way of getting highly qualified specialists to be employed so as to reduce recruitment searching process. Challenges discussed include negative impact inbreeding has on qualitative research. The paper concluded that since universities cannot completely avoid inbreeding, strategies that will ensure that the negative impacts of inbreeding on academic staff and the universities are reduced to the barest minimum should be instituted. Recommendations to check negative impact of inbreeding in Nigerian universities were made: that policies in favour of transparency in academic recruitment, credible evaluation and promotion process should be implemented to curb the tendency to inbreed, the practice of inbreeding should be limited to the barest minimum to foster vibrant academic research, lecturers that are inbred should collaborate more often with lecturers trained in other universities in Nigeria and other climes in order to exchange ideas as this would reduce the negative impact of inbreeding on the staff and university, all academics staff should endeavour to own a computer and connect to the internet, each Nigerian university should sponsor and make it mandatory that academic staff attend conferences and other academic activities locally and internationally at least once every session.