Vice Chancellors and University Administrators have called on Nigerian higher Institutions to improve student welfare and learning experiences, warning that alumni endowments and donor funding would remain out of reach for Universities that fail to treat students well.

The university leaders made the call at the Commonwealth Institute Universities Leaders Conference themed "Funding and Revenue Generation for Universities," held in Lagos on Monday.

Chairman of the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation, Mr Wale Adeosun, identified tuition, alumni funded endowments, research grants, and commercialisation of innovation as the four major funding sources available to universities. He argued that alumni endowments held the greatest potential, noting that many Nigerian graduates were already solving global problems through technology and artificial intelligence.

"A lot of our Universities are sitting on gold mines because they have really well established alumni," he stated, adding that government funding should serve only as a supplement rather than a primary source.

Adeosun urged vice chancellors to personally lead fundraising efforts and establish professional advancement offices dedicated to alumni engagement. "The goal for every university Vice Chancellor should be that every student who comes through that door has a great experience," he said.

Director of the Commonwealth Institute of Advanced and Professional Studies, Prof Anthony Kila, noted that globally successful universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, and Harvard generated only a minimal portion of their revenue from tuition fees. "Clearly, that stream of income is no longer enough," he stated.

Vice Chancellor of Chrisland University, Prof Oyedunni Arulogun, said students who were treated well would always give back. "A student will look back if they are treated as kings," she noted.

Vice Chancellor of Bells University of Technology, Prof Jeremiah Ojediran, described funding as a significant challenge for private universities and called for a culture of student ownership. "They want to look back at a system that has built them, not one that has terrorised them," he said.