As Nigeria’s tertiary education faces mounting questions about relevance, leadership, and innovation, Dr. Emmanuel Abraham has emerged as one of the country’s most compelling academic voices to address the concerns.
As Chairman of Topfaith Group of Schools, in which Topfaith University is one, he speaks with a rare blend of intellectual rigour, strategic clarity, and measured optimism about the future of university education on the African continent.
Soft-spoken yet deeply persuasive, the 1981 University of Calabar Valedictorian is the kind of public thinker who does not merely answer questions, but he smartly interrogates assumptions, challenges conventions, and reframes complex national issues with uncommon intellectual depth.
In this interview with the publisher of Straightnews newspapers, Israel Umoh, Dr. Abraham reflects on the evolving role of private universities particularly his Topfaith University, Mkpatak in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, in transforming Nigeria’s rural areas, the need for intensive research, and why education remains the most powerful instrument for societal transformation, among others.
As a continuation of the first published part, the remaining excerpts:
How the university evaluates lecture effectiveness apart from student feedback
The most important parameter, as a matter of fact, is the student feedback. That’s the most important because those are the consumers. They say a taste of the food is in the eating.
The consumers are the students. They are the ones who know, who are able to say, hi, lecturer A is good for us. They score; they do that regularly. They score the lecturers, and we take those scores very intimately. The scoring parameter is, such that you don’t need to put your name, so that you don’t think that anybody will victimise you. So, when you are anonymous- an anonymous assessor, you can tell what is in your mind about the personality.
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In addition to that, of course, we have the hierarchy of assessment, which is, of course, whoever you are responsible to, will have the capacity to assess you in terms of Knowledge, in terms of Attitude, in terms of Skill, in terms of Habit. These are all issues. We call it: KASH assessment. If you hear anybody now say, well, KASH assessment. How much KASH do you have? That means Knowledge, Attitude, Skill and Habit.
These are rated. So, the higher KASH you have, the better you are. Eventhough our own KASH is not money- the money is in KASH. It means you are rich.So, if you have KASH, which is a short form for Knowledge, Attitude, Skill, and Habit, that makes a total person. So, hierarchically, our staff are assessed on KASH. Then they are also assessed by the consumers of that KASH. The users of that KASH are the students.
They will assess you on what kind of attitude you have, what kind of knowledge you have, how deep your knowledge is, what kind of skill you have, what kind of habit you have. Do you have the habit of abusing students? Do you have the habit of coming to class late? Do you have the habit of being punctual? Do you have the habit of being irregular in class? Do you have the habit of not teaching well? Do you have the skill to teach? These are all the parameters. So, you have this array of parameters that we use to assess our staff.
How the University approaches broadband access, e-learning systems, and smart classrooms
I think you were there today. How smart was the classroom that you saw? You saw what we were studying in our lecture hall. All you see there are smart boards fitted everywhere. We have to expose our lecturers to the utilization. That’s the skill we are talking about. That’s: The skill or ability to use digital platforms to teach and digital platforms to interact. When you accompanied to one of the classrooms, you saw our interactive and smart board.
Yes. Lecture boards in our classrooms. That explains you were there and you saw it being installed everywhere. That’s where we are.
Investments made in laboratory modernization and virtual learning environments
Well, in one word, huge. In two words, huge investments. In three words, very huge investments. In four words, very huge functional investments! Okay? In five words, very huge, functional and necessary investments.
Yes. So, how secure is the university’s data management and cybersecurity framework? The security is totally tight because it is handled by experts. We have a full-time director of what we call Director of Information Communication Technology (ICT).
Also read: Topfaith University Matriculates 104 students
And our system is fully digitalised, fully customized, fully branded and limited to authorise users per unit, per time. As students, yes, we talk about this one.
Highest, biggest infrastructure challenges encountered while developing a university in the rural area
First, energy supply- electricity supply. And that still runs basically like number one as at this point in time. The university is a technical university, a research university.
We need energy 24/7 to be able to drive our machines, to be able to drive our equipment, to be able to promote research learning, to promote people who go and sleep in the library. We need people and we need energy to drive our operations. So, that’s the biggest challenge that we have.
Approach to campus master planning to accommodate future growth
Our campus has a perimeter fence around the landmass measuring 6.7 kilometres, fully fenced with barbed wired, and fitted with the college CCTV and solar security lighting. Number two, our landmass is huge enough so that it measures 138 hectares.
As we speak, what we have developed to accommodate our five faculties so far in less than 40% of the total landmass available. And the Master Plan is being followed diligently. We have a full Master Plan that was approved by National Universities Commission (NUC) and approved by our physical planning unit.
And whatever we do in terms of infrastructure development align with intentional allocation and location of our infrastructural facilities.
Sustainability measures incorporated into the university’s buildings and utilities
Our buildings are basically time-tested, fully customized, fit for purposes for which they have been met. And so, in terms of sustainability, they are fit for purpose. How do you ensure student accommodation and welfare facilities meet international standards? It is intentional. That’s the assurance. It is done intentionally. Our students stay in rooms.
We connect them to facilities- utilities that are relevant for human survival, central cafeteria feeding system, easily accessible from every corner of the campus operating long hours of the day up to 9 p.m. So, you are free, at any point in time, to get to the cafeteria and make a choice of yours (whatever you want to eat).
You either go through what we call pay-as-you-eat or eat-as-you-pay. The option is yours from the varieties available. We are very intentional about the comfort of students and their welfare, most importantly, their security and safety. So, we emphasise what we call Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) systems.
Support for students’ mental health, leadership development, and career readiness
Mental health is a very conscious attitude that we have. We demonstrate on campus. We have a full-fledged Guidance and Counseling Unit that intervenes regularly, consciously, and intentionally for the purpose of restoring and ensuring proper mental health of students. Any observed deviance is quickly attended to through our Counseling Unit.
In terms of career readiness, this becomes a very conscious approach. We talk to students, we get people, get mentors who talk to the students on careers from various departments, various programmes, and we allow them to explore career opportunities, skills that keep them fit in terms of attitude, in terms of skill that will propel them into the world of work, plus world of entrepreneurship.
Lessons learned as a founder since the university received its operational approval, licence in 2021
Yeah, what lessons have I learned? I have learned the lesson of resilience, the lesson of diligence, the lesson of hard work, the lesson of transparency, the lesson of continuous delegation, the lesson of trust on people, the lesson of cooperation, the lesson that the young ones are not the problems. They are even solutions.
If you give them the right frame of mind, the right environment, the right attitude to what they’re engaged in, they are wonderful creatures to work with. That’s it.
Balancing faith-based values with academic freedom and diversity of thought
I told you that one of our key gaps we want to close is character formation. Okay? So, we consciously teach character.
And that itself has a tendency to scare the issues that could be negative in academic freedom, such as you were on campus, you saw students. You will have known that that dressing is not very normal in many other places. It’s intentional.
It’s as a result of issues that have to do with moral, issues that have to do with character. Of course, faith (if you mean religion), we allow students to worship. And of course, we have what we call non-denominational, joint and collaborative worship sessions where we expose the students to the rudiments of faith development.
These are young ones. Their minds need to be touched in terms of: how do you use your mind as a human being? Why do you need God? Even if you say you don’t need God, we say there’s a need for you to need God. And we create opportunity for you to accept the fact that we won’t force you, but we will negotiate with you to ensure that you know that God is good.
How the university impacted in social development of Mkpatak and the surrounding communities
I like to tell you that there’s wonderfully a notion that I keep talking about. The notion, you find a notion where they say people migrate from rural communities to urban centers to seek for greener pastures.
And they call that rural-urban migration. That’s it. Topfaith University, and indeed, Topfaith institutions located in Mkpatak have tampered with that age-long situation where you are talking about rural-urban migration.
What you have now is basically urban-rural migration. We have reversed the trend. That is the first impact. Very few from the urban centers have chosen to come and enjoy the ambience, the serenity, the nature-friendly environment created by the existence of the Topfaith institutions in Mkpatak. Mkpatak itself has become what can be classified as the Knowledge City. Because if you have Topfaith University and Primary School, the human beings from the cradle moving into Topfaith International Secondary School, giving foundational adolescent or teenage education.
Thereafter, you migrate to the adolescent level of education at the tertiary level called Topfaith University. The dynamics cannot be over-emphasized on the impact on the community. We constantly involve the community; we give scholarships to the indigenes of this place to also enjoy. We invite the community to share in our celebration moments like graduations, matriculations, open days or the cultural days, sports days.
We integrate the community to have a feel. Even our university students do counseling and modeling in the nearby surrounding secondary and primary schools around. They go there to talk to them, motivating them to create a future for themselves. So, the impact, as I know, can be judged to be good and great. And we’re going to make it greater.
Where Topfaith University will be in the next 20 years academically, infrastructurally
By God’s grace, given the foundation of the vision in the next 20 years, Topfaith University should be counted as one strategic institution listed among in the Ivy League of such institutions in the world. Already, by AD (Alper-Doger) Scientific Index performance of by 2025 ranking, a global ranking system of private universities in Nigeria, Topfaith University was ranked among the first 10 while Covenant University was the first.
That is just on the elementary side. Our own aspiration is to inch ourselves to a position that will be called before anyone else is called. That’s good.
Legacy Topfaith University will leave in Nigeria’s educational landscape
It will remain a catalyst of impacting functional university education – getting graduates with wonderful character and emotional stability with conscious entrepreneurial inclination for students leaving the university. The first port of call would not be searching for ministries; it’s not local government headquarters to look for jobs with beautiful pieces of papers that are called degrees and certificates in their hands. They will get into the world with their brain fully wired for excellence because they can think, they can generate ideas, they can promote ideas and they can move into the world to create a difference.
Advice to young educational entrepreneurs hoping to establish transformative institutions in undeserved community
They should be very clear and clean in their vision and mission because that is what will drive their passion. If they’re just joining the Joneses, then it’s a wrong philosophy.
Biggest challenges facing university lecturers, including those of Topfaith University
I wouldn’t want to talk about challenges. I don’t like looking at the negative aspects of things. I would rather want to say, what could we do better? The lecturers should be better trained. They should be better committed to the passion of impacting knowledge as lecturers. When they are better trained and their mindset is clear and clean enough to pursue their passion as manufacturers of knowledge and grooming of young minds that are expected to catalyse the world, they will not be talking much of challenges. They’ll be talking of what can I do to create value for the university system.
Strategies put in place to internationalise the curriculum and attract foreign academic collaborations
We’re already having academic collaborations internationally. We are linked with some sister universities in the US, UK, and South Africa.
We’re also linked with some research centers in Germany based on our own contact with our lecturers; some research centers in China because of the linkages our lecturers have. So, we are there.
We also have, as we speak, two international scholars on campus that come from University of Arizona, a professor of communication science who is with us here. We also have one Associate Professor from the University of Wisconsin who is in the Public Health sector. This is how we collaborate.
And as we speak, one of our lecturers is in the University of Science and Technology in South Africa. He’s actually from the Criminology and Psychology Studies Department on an exchange programme, post-Doctoral. So, we are already set to explore international connection.
We have a whole unit that is managed by a Professor. We call it Directorate of Internationalization and Linkages. It’s a conscious approach.
So, many courses have been run by the university- that is number one. Number two, what is the students’ population? We have 26 approved and accredited programmes in five faculties of the university, having existed for four and a half years of academic programme as of now.
Our student population as of today is just about a thousand. Yeah, that’s a big credit.
Having graduated the first set, we had done our first graduation in October 2025 for programmes that were four years. We will graduate the next set, come October 2026, by God’s grace, and we’ll continue like that.
So, we thank God for his grace. We thank God for safety. We thank God for progress. We need to grow organically so as to establish our foundation.
Message for people angling to establish private universities in Nigeria
For me, let me start with the parents. For parents, and I will restrict it to my university, I can speak confidently about what I know.
For parents who want to send their children to Topfaith University, I say kudos because Topfaith University stands for dedication to value. And we believe that whatever investment any parent does by sending his or her child to here, Topfaith University definitely should be able to get commensurate value in terms of that investment. For my other colleagues who might want to be entrepreneurial in the university, I say kudos too. Welcome on board!
As I said earlier on, create a vision, a mission that coincides with your passion. When that is done, you’ll be able to have the focus that will drive the vision and the passion.
And through that process, you’ll create educational value. It’s important to ensure that investment is intended to create value in human resource development, because society needs good human resources to develop.
Your best delicacies
In terms of what? Food. Everything is good for me. Everything is good for me. It is even in the Bible, that you should not select anything. So, long as it is created and blessed by God, it is good for eating. So, everything is good for me.
Concluded
