The National Universities Commission (NUC), last Thursday, 11th September, 2025, held a roundtable discussion with relevant stakeholders including regulatory and professional bodies, Directors of Academic Planning (DAPs) of Nigerian Universities, in a bid to ensure the harmonisation of the Accreditation process in the Nigerian University System (NUS).
Addressing the participants at the one-day parley, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Professor Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, FCVSN, said the meeting was a follow-up to the meeting conveyed by the Honourable Minister of Education, (HME), Dr. Tunji Alausa on 10th July, 2025 to address the menace of multiple accreditation often embarked upon by some professional bodies without the consent of the NUC, the sole regulatory agency for the Nigerian University System in Nigeria.
He added that the meeting was organised by NUC to allow for further dialogue with the professional bodies with the aim of streamlining the accreditation process in order to ease the burdens of universities as the multiple accreditation drains the financial status of the Universities and often brings unnecessary academic distractions for both students and lecturers.
Professor Ribadu said that universities were invited to the meeting due to their pivotal role on the issue of multiple accreditations, highlighting the objectives of accreditation to include to, ensure that at least the provisions of the minimum academic standards are attained, maintained and enhanced as well as assure employers and other members of the community that graduates of Nigerian universities have acquired an acceptable level of competence in their areas of specialisation.
The NUC Scribe added that the objectives were also to give credence to the international community that the academic programmes offered in Nigerian universities are of good standards and that the graduates are adequate for employment and further studies.
He declared that ‘‘the NUC is proud of the long-standing partnership with professional bodies and other stakeholders to advance these objectives and quality in higher education.
“Your educational input particularly in the development of the NUC minimum academic standards has continuously been essential in ensuring that Nigerian graduates are not only academically sound but also professionally competent, morally upright, and equipped to contribute significantly to society. For this steadfast dedication, we are grateful”, he said.
The Executive Secretary reeled out some of the Commission’s operational instruments to include the NUC Act Cap N81 LFN, 2004 and Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act Cap E3 LFN, 2004 which, amongst other functions, lay down minimum standards for all degrees, awards, among others, offered in Nigerian universities and accredit same.
He observed that over the years, several professional bodies had carried out their own accreditation parallel to the NUC accreditation, and that the universities had also decried the burden of going through multiple accreditation processes.
He stressed that despite the admirable goals of maintaining standards and guaranteeing quality, the duplication had frequently resulted in conflicting results, financial hardship, administrative exhaustion, and a diversion of limited resources from teaching, learning, research, and innovation.
Professor Ribadu reminded the gathering that this apprehension prompted the Honourable Minister of Education to convene a meeting with the Executive Secretary, NUC and other stakeholders to proffer a lasting solution to the multiple accreditations of academic programmes in Nigerian Universities by various professional bodies, outside that of the National Universities Commission.
He stated that consequent upon the said meeting, the Federal Ministry of Education in a letter referenced FME/DUE/206/T/191 and dated 9th May, 2025 notified the Commission of the approval by the Honourable Minister of Education that all professional bodies shall no longer be allowed to conduct accreditation of academic programmes in Nigerian universities independently of the NUC.
He said that though waivers were granted to seven regulatory bodies to continue their regulatory activities, with a proviso that it should be in collaboration with the Commission, after due consideration.
The Executive Secretary listed those that received the waivers to include, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Council of Legal Education (CLE), Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN), Veterinary Council of Nigeria, Council of Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) as well as Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON).
He appealed that it was imperative that all stakeholders consider how to streamline accreditation processes without compromising standards, so as to eliminate needless multiplicity, while respecting the statutory responsibilities of the NUC and each professional body.
He also urged the meeting to come up with a framework for accreditation that guarantees credibility, transparency, and efficiency as well as enhance synergy between NUC and professional bodies in the areas of curriculum development, programme evaluation, and quality assurance, while maintaining international best practices, in order to ensure that degrees from Nigerian universities remain valued both nationally and globally.
The Executive Secretary reminded the participants that the aim of the meeting was about building bridges, not defining boundaries and finding common ground where the NUC and professional bodies could work together seamlessly, in the best interest of the students, the universities and the nation at large.
According to him, “this forum presents a unique opportunity to establish a sustainable framework that will not only alleviate the burden on our universities but also safeguard the integrity and credibility of both academic and professional standards for the future,” he further said.
Presenting the overview of the current template for the accreditation process, the Acting Director of Accreditation, Engr. Abraham Chundusu, informed the participants that Accreditation started in NUC in 1990, as discipline-based, with the selection of Professors across the disciplines as resource persons, while NUC staff served as representatives in each of the panel.
He said the process continued until the year 2017 when the Commission shifted to Programme Accreditation with resource persons sourced only from the programme to be accredited.
Engr. Chundusu gave a rundown of the accreditation process covering the nitty-gritty of all its components, highlighting its different status which include, Full Accreditation that lasts for five years, Interim which lasts for two years and Denied which makes the Commission to put a stop to new admission into such programme until remedies are put in place.
He laid emphasis on the four key components of the Accreditation which must all score 70% and above before such programme could earn a Full Accreditation status, stressing that the Commission had also digitalised some of the accreditation processes and procedures in line with global best practices.
During the roundtable discussion which was anchored by the Executive Secretary, representatives of professional bodies, Universities and other stakeholders dwelled on how to streamline the processes and procedures of accreditation exercises in the NUS, with the stakeholders agreeing that NUC should lead the whole exercise as the academic programmes regulatory agency.
Some professional and regulatory bodies also supported the presentation of the Executive Secretary as well as the position of the Honourable Minister of Education which gave waivers to seven regulatory bodies that were recognised as very critical to the graduate output from the NUS.
The Deputy Executive Secretary, Administration, Mr. Chris J. Maiyaki lent his voice to the decision of the NUC to convene the meeting, noting that it was the global best practice and that aligning the accreditation process would save the system of valuable time.
The meeting also agreed and constituted a seven-member committee, chaired by the NUC Acting Director, Accreditation, to develop strategies to drive the collaborative process.
Among their Terms of Reference is to thinker with how the accreditation could be carried out henceforth taking into consideration the template and instruments for the Accreditation, cycle of accreditation as well as the funding.
The committee is to work with stakeholders to achieve more efficient and cost-effective model of accreditation for Nigerian Universities.
Delivering a Vote of thanks, the Deputy Director, Part-Time Accreditation in the Directorate of Accreditation, Mrs. Uchenna Ngozi Obidigbo thanked the Executive Secretary and his management team, the other regulatory and Professional bodies, the immediate past Deputy Executive Secretary, Academics, Dr. Noel Biodun Saliu and participants from the universities, for making out time to be part of the initiative towards harmonising the accreditation process for the benefit of the system.
She commended the courage, resilience and commitment of all to that one common purpose of ensuring that the accreditation meets the highest quality and global competitiveness.
At the meeting were all the Directors in the Commission as well as staff of the Accreditation Directorate.