The Federal Government has approved the establishment of nine new private universities across the country, even as it imposed a seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new Federal Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, citing the proliferation of under-utilised institutions, overstretched resources, and a drop in academic quality.
The Minister of Education (HME), Dr. Tunji Maruf Alausa, who announced the approval on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, in Abuja, said the challenge in Nigeria’s tertiary education system was no longer access but inefficient duplication, poor infrastructure, inadequate staffing, and dwindling enrollment in many existing institutions.
He said the newly approved institutions are Tazkiyah University, Kaduna State; Leadership University, Abuja; Jimoh Babalola University, Kwara State; Bridget University, Mbaise, Imo State; Greenland University, Jigawa State; JEFAP University, Niger State; Azione Verde University, Imo State; Unique Open University, Lagos State; and American Open University, Ogun State.
Dr. Alausa disclosed that the Tinubu administration inherited 551 pending requests for the establishment of tertiary institutions, which were subjected to stricter approval guidelines. This, he said, reduced the list to 79 active applications, out of which nine were cleared on Wednesday after meeting the criteria. He explained that many of the approved universities had been awaiting accreditation for over six years, with their promoters having already built campuses and invested billions of naira.
The Minister said that the Federal Government had placed a moratorium on new applications for private universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, with the exception of those that met the new operational standards.
“Several federal universities operate far below capacity, with some having fewer than 2,000 students. In one northern university, there are 1,200 staff serving fewer than 800 students. This is a waste of government resources,” he stated.
The Minister noted that 199 universities received fewer than 100 applications through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) last year, with 34 recording zero applications. Of the 295 Polytechnics nationwide, he said, many had fewer than 99 applicants, while 219 Colleges of Education also posted poor enrollment figures, including 64 with no applications at all.
The HME warned that unchecked proliferation of poorly subscribed institutions risked producing ill-prepared graduates, eroding the value of Nigerian degrees internationally, and worsening unemployment. He explained that the moratorium would enable the government to channel resources into upgrading facilities, hiring qualified staff, and expanding the carrying capacity of existing institutions. “If we want to improve quality and not be a laughing stock globally, the pragmatic step is to pause the establishment of new federal institutions,” he said.
Nigeria currently has 72 Federal universities, 42 Federal Polytechnics, and 28 Federal Colleges of Education, in addition to hundreds of state-owned and private tertiary institutions, as well as specialised schools such as colleges of agriculture, health sciences, and nursing. He clarified that the approved universities were private institutions whose applications had been pending for up to six years and had undergone full evaluation by the National Universities Commission.
He added that billions of naira had already been invested in infrastructure for the approved institutions. He stressed that the moratorium also extends to new private polytechnics and colleges of education to prevent further under-enrollment.
Dr. Alausa commended President Tinubu for supporting the reform, describing it as a reset button for Nigeria’s tertiary education. “Mr President believes fervently in education and has given us the mandate to ensure every Nigerian has access to the highest quality of education comparable to anywhere in the world,” he added.