Dr Mathew Sunday Dada & Dr Sani Ahmed Yauta
Abstract
The paper discussed the nexus of access, equity and quality of university education, and implications of matching university education and graduates’ skills and employability for sustainable development goals in Nigeria. The paper conceptualized access, equity and quality of university education and developed a hypothetical model showing the links among the three constructs. It also showed the effect and outcomes of the balance of interplay among the concepts on producing graduates with employable skills that would ultimately lead to the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). In the hypothetical model, the paper concluded that there appears to be a link among the constructs; access, equity and quality of university education. The paper recommended, among others, that the proprietors of universities in Nigeria should give sufficient attention to distribution of resources; such as improving infrastructures in the existing universities to provide for effective instruction and acquisition of skills required to drive the economy, allow for full implantation of university autonomy to enable university recruit and employ more academic staff to reduce the high lecturer-student ratio experienced in many programmes in the universities for quality instruction in the universities in Nigeria.