How quality assurance frameworks are implemented in higher education sector in Nigeria

The study examined the implementation of quality assurance frameworks in higher education from political and ethnoreligious perspectives in multi-ethnic societies such as Nigeria. The research explains how these frameworks are implemented in Nigeria’s higher education sector, with a particular focus on these dimensions. Specifically, it focuses on the challenges of policy implementation and the roles of various stakeholders in promoting quality in higher education institutions. While the research questions highlight the critical importance of higher education development in Nigeria, they also raise concerns about its relevance for achieving success in the education sector. The study employed a sequential mixed-methods research design. The quantitative component involved collecting data from 129 respondents, including higher education chief executives, heads of university departments, academics, non-academic staff, and students from one public university and one private university, as well as from the higher education regulatory bodies in Nigeria. The data were analysed using robust ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and ordered logistic regression to identify key factors influencing the implementation of quality assurance frameworks. The quantitative findings indicate that, while many respondents found quality assurance frameworks useful for improving internal quality systems, they generally did not believe that institutional leaders effectively manage resources to ensure the quality of higher education. This is particularly evident in Nigeria, where higher education outcomes are primarily defined as serving economic purposes. The interview findings reveal the persistence of a patronage system in which socioeconomic, ethnoreligious, cultural, and political factors influence student enrollment, faculty recruitment, and administrative appointments, thereby undermining meritocracy and quality. The study concludes that an effective quality assurance framework for higher education in Nigeria must be both politically and culturally sensitive and should address ethnoreligious and socioeconomic disparities through transparent and accountable processes.