Here in Nigeria, there are two categories of universities,
— Public Universities
— Private Universities
But my focus is on the former. According to statistics by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board ,over 95% of Nigerian admission seekers fill in for Public universities with Federal schools having the highest chunk, they has to be a reason for this one-sided imbalance, the reasons are not far fetched. Simply because there are lots of benefits attached to attending a public university. Here are the benefits :-

1.Rigorous Entry Process :-No doubt, when seeking admission to a public university, you’re faced with a lot of competition, and difficult post ume exams,this in turn brings out the best in you as a student,because you’re in a position where it has now become survival of the fittest. Compared to private universities where one can easily gain admission and probably makes a student become lazy. This makes public schools admit the best students.

2.Quality Academic Standards :Like it or not,public schools have the best facilities for teaching, research, projects,practicals and so on. You as a student tend to benefit a lot from this,because the better the school standard, the better your standard as a student.

3.Acceptance of Certificates : This cannot be over-emphasized,a graduate of a public university will always stand a better chance against a private university graduate in the labour market, because it is verified that public school students go through rigorous teaching and they sweat to get good grades and a good result. A graduate of UI will always stand a better chance against a graduate of Babcock.

4. Healthy Competition :In an average public university, where they are many students in a department, as a student,you’re faced with competition from your coursemates,and you’re faced with having to pass that strict lecturer’s course. this makes the students read regularly, read in the library, read at night and even attend all lectures. In other terms,it builds you as a student, unlike in private university where the students are few so the competition is not high and one can easily scale through.

5. Research :Most mind-blowing research are being conducted by public universities,research which leads to breakthrough in a particular problem ranging from the medical field to engineering and technology. We’ve read news of ABU engineering students making drones,UBTH medical staff conducting kidney transplant, Unizik students making a mini bus and many others. This can only be achieved through quality research and analysis and thesis, not just by classroom teaching. In the business field, the research could proffer solutions to Nigeria’s economic and financial problems and proffer economic advices too.

6.Variety of Courses :In public universities, you have a huge bouquet of courses to choose from, whether in arts or science. Compared to private unis,how many of them offer Medicine and Surgery, few! how many of them offer Engineering ,few! and other sensitive courses like Geology, Radiography and so on. This is definitely a benefit on the side of public university students.
You’ll always wanna study your dream course and therefore you have to pursue your dream, don’t you?

7. Quality of Teachers : I’ve seen a lot of highly qualified teachers in public schools,you find a lot of professors, associate professors,MSc holders and even Emeritus. This tells you that definitely,quality education will be delivered as compared to the private universities which have limited or no professors. Therefore a student stand to gain a lot from their highly qualified lecturers.

No offence to those in private schools, they are good schools too,but one must be better than the other. Ironically, some of the best schools in the world are private, from the Ivy League institutions like Princeton University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology to the Oxbridge institutions of Oxford University and Cambridge University.

But here locally, the public schools remains the best options as most private schools lack adequate infrastructure and course accreditation,some are still very young and not well grounded.. compare that to Oxford University which is over 3 centuries old,the oldest university in the English-speaking world,or to Havard University which was established in the 18th century .. So the experience and history of a university plays a huge role in it’s development.
And our public universities have been there long enough to earn these acknowledgement.