State of Education for Library and Information Science in Nigerian Private Universities

摘要

Private Universities in Nigeria are established, financed, and managed by individuals, corporate establishments, and religious organizations for the development of human resources in the country. This article adopts a descriptive approach to the present state of education for library and information science (LIS) in Nigerian Private Universities. It traces the historical development of legally recognized universities (federal, state, and private) in the country, which currently stands at 117. It also traced the development of librarianship education in Nigeria. Out of the 117 universities, 45 are private with only 2 offering LIS, thereby contributing to inadequate number of professional librarians in the nation. It outlines the factors causing the neglect of LIS by these private universities, which include wrong notion and perception of LIS by societal members, poor visibility of the professional association of librarians in the country, and poor state of the nation's information infrastructure. Recommendations and strategies to establish and run a department of LIS for the training of librarians in these private universities are given. If adopted, they will lead to the production of more proactive contemporary librarians for the nation and the world at large.