The conference on “The State of Higher Education in Nigeria” provides a forum for a holistic assessment of the country’s education sector. In this vein, academics, policy-makers, students, and other vested interests in the field would seek and afford in-depth analysis of the quality, and access to higher education in the country, and how effective constituent institutions are in delivering transformative and responsive education to students. This topical conference comes at a point where Nigeria is at cross-roads and must decide if she wants to be a leader in the 21^st century by investing prudently in human capital development. Many countries in Africa such as Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Morocco have consistently made higher education a priority, and have seen the benefits in the form of robust economies, and other beneficial externalities. Nigeria has a choice to make!

As the driver of personal and national economic growth, the value of a responsive higher educational system in providing social and political stability is invaluable. Conference participants, from keynote speakers to discussants, shall adduce best practices that institutions of higher learning in Nigeria should emulate to strengthen their core areas of specialty. While serious effort in this regard has been made in the past, access to quality education at the tertiary level remains problematic, and needs to be addressed.