Perception of Stakeholders in Funding of Medical Education in Nigeria

This paper examined how budgeting and funding impact teaching, research and community service (service delivery) in medical education in Nigeria using College of Medicine of the University of Lagos (CMUL) as the case study. The perception of key stakeholders of the medical school was obtained in highlighting the efficiency of funds utilisation over a 20-year period (1991/1992 to 2010/2011). The use of questionnaire was employed for theoretical tests and estimations. Theoretical statistical tools were used in the testing and analysis of the research hypotheses. The result showed extra budgetary spending for the first five years, when the CMUL received 114% of amount requested from the federal government. Subsequently, this was not sustainable and it was affirmed that budgeting and funding were relevant to service delivery of medical education. The study showed that available funding did not stimulate effective provision of medical education at the CMUL. The study recommended strict realignment of expenditure in favour of core activities of the medical school, quick implementation of contextualised funding model to replace the current normative and contractual model, introduction of tuition fees at undergraduate level, aggressive internally generated revenue drive and provision of conducive enabling environment for teaching and learning.