Abuja: The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, has identified key challenges affecting Open Access publishing in Nigerian universities. Ribadu spoke at the 114th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association of University Librarians of Nigerian Universities (AULNU) on Tuesday in Abuja. He described university libraries as central to academic quality, noting that weak libraries undermine university standards. ‘Progress has been made through expanded electronic resources, but funding, infrastructure and utilisation gaps persist,’ he said.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, these gaps hinder universities from keeping pace with global shifts in knowledge production and dissemination. Ribadu stressed that open access improves research visibility, global competitiveness, and access to publicly funded research. He called for investment in digital infrastructure, institutional repositories, and expanded electronic resources, while emphasising continuous training for librarians and researchers on digital tools, copyright, and open access systems.
Ribadu assured stakeholders of the commission’s commitment to strengthening university libraries nationwide. He urged librarians to adopt practical, collaborative solutions to navigate the transition to open access. Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of Nigeria, Prof. Chinwe Anunobi, while delivering the keynote speech at the AGM, described open access as a transformative shift in scholarly publishing.
Anunobi noted that traditional subscription models restrict knowledge to institutions able to afford rising costs. She highlighted that open access enhances visibility, citation impact, and knowledge application for development. Anunobi identified funding restructuring, quality assurance, and technical infrastructure as major challenges and urged librarians to act as advocates for equity in global knowledge sharing.
In her remarks, the Chairman of AULNU, Prof. Angela Okpala, said libraries remained vital for access and preservation of knowledge. Okpala, who is the Librarian at the National Open University of Nigeria, noted a shift from traditional systems to open access, driven by rising journal costs and digital innovation. She said open access increases the availability of research, reduces costs, and improves institutional visibility, while identifying poor infrastructure, low awareness, and inadequate funding as challenges confronting open access publishing in Nigerian universities.