This paper traces briefly the history and development of university education in Nigeria from one university in 1948 to a total of 118 universities as at the time of writing the paper. Besides the chronicle, the paper examines some cross-cutting issues that tend to scuttle the otherwise good intentions and robust programme initiatives of the universities to excel and match the best practices evident in world acclaimed universities. Such issues include: the ad-hoc manner in which most of the universities were/are being established; inadequate funding; crisis of access; brain-drain; instability of academic calendar due to strikes; liberalization of university ownership and graduate unemployment. The paper concludes by calling on both the government and all stakeholders to seriously tackle the issue of funding as it is a veritable catalyst for excellence in any university system.[For complete volume, see ED567040.]