Faith-Based Universities in Nigeria and the Consequences for Citizenship

Existing studies suggest that the liberalization of university education, which paved the way for faith-based and other nonstate players in the higher education sector, improved access to and the morality and quality of education in Nigeria. The validity of such claims is far from settled, but adequate attention has not been focused on the unintended political fallout of the nonstate entry into university education. Drawing on the responses of a random sample of 1,886 respondents from eleven university campuses (five public or state universities and six faith-based universities), this article examines how different university education experiences produce variations in citizenship along the dimensions of obedience (readiness to comply with state orders and willingness to pay tax), interfaith accommodation (willingness to vote for and support candidates from another religious group), and patriotism (disposition to volunteer or sacrifice for the state). The study reveals that public or state university respondents are stronger along all these dimensions than faith-based university respondents.