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As Nigeria battles with coronavirus pandemic, a report has indicted some universities for failure to update their websites with necessary information about COVID-19 for its students and staff members.
The report titled, “Response, Contribution and Adaptation of Nigerian Universities: Internet as a Medium of Communication and Public Connection,” focused on universities’ Internet presence and use as a hint to investigate community activity, including teaching adaptations in response to COVID-19.
The document, signed by Dr. Sunday Omeike and Dr. Paul Adepoju, who are fellows of the African Science Literacy Network (ASLN), said the report was borne out of curiosity for the true purpose of a university in terms of openness to and regards for the public, and not to dent the image of the academic fraternity.
They argued that Nigerian universities invested in website designs to leverage on the ever-increasing number of citizens in the virtual space, adding that three universities in the country have a functional website, while some cite webometric rankings to celebrate online successes.
They said the report stated that almost all universities in the United States of America (USA) and top African institutions use their website for the good cause of COVID-19 response, while most Nigerian universities’ websites dwelled on news about graduation, convocation, inaugural lectures, workshops old events.
