The thrust of the study was to assess the challenges inhibiting lecturers in higher education institutions in North Central Nigeria from benefiting from the advantages of Big Data assessment. Three research questions and four null hypotheses facilitated the study. Using cross-sectional survey design a sample of 350 lecturers was selected from public tertiary institutions comprising universities, polytechnics and colleges of education using multistage stratified random sampling procedure. Stratification ensured the inclusion of male and female staff in varied faculties and disciplines. A 30-item structured questionnaire developed and validated by the researchers was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used to answer research questions while t-test and ANOVA inferential statistics were used for testing null hypotheses. Findings show that lecturers are ready to benefit from the advantages of Big Data assessment but for prohibitive challenges surrounding application of big data including issues of skill gap for factorial analysis; lack of ICT infrastructure and lack of opportunities for capacity-building. Recommendations include the need for governments of Nigeria to improve budgetary provisions to higher education institutions to facilitate domestication of Big Data.

Key words: Big data, factorial analysis, privacy, skill gap, ICT infrastructure