The Federal Government has placed a seven-year ban on the establishment of new federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in the country.
The decision, which was taken at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday presided over by President Bola Tinubu, was informed by the need to check the rising number of under-utilised tertiary institutions as well as address deteriorating infrastructure and manpower in the existing institutions.
FEC, however, ratified the establishment of nine new universities.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, told reporters after the meeting that the challenge in the nation’s tertiary education system was no longer access but inefficient duplication, poor infrastructure, inadequate staffing, and dwindling enrolments.
“In our country, access to quality financial education is no longer an issue. What we are witnessing today is duplication of new federal tertiary institutions, a significant reduction in the current capacity of each institution, and degradation of both physical infrastructure and manpower,” Alausa said.
“If we do not act decisively, it will lead to marked declines in educational quality and undermine the international respect that Nigerian graduates command,” he said.
Nigeria currently boasts 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.
The total number of universities in the country hit 300 in July after the National Universities Commission (NUC) issued provisional licence to the Ebonyi State Government for the take-off of the new Ebonyi State University of Aeronautics and Aerospace Engineering located in Ezza.
Some of these existing institutions have, however, been plagued by lack of patronage.
“Several federal universities operate far below capacity, with some having fewer than 2,000 students. In one northern university, 1,200 staff members are serving fewer than 800 students. This is a waste of government resources,” Alausa said.
He informed that 199 universities received fewer than 100 applications through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in 2024, with 34 recording zero applications.
Similarly, of the 295 polytechnics nationwide, many had fewer than 99 applicants. The 219 colleges of education also posted poor enrolment figures, including 64 with no applications.
“We are doing this to further halt decays in tertiary institutions which may in future affect the quality of education and consequently cause unemployment of graduates from some of these institutions,” he added.
The minister said the Tinubu administration inherited 551 pending establishment requests for tertiary institutions. However, the number was trimmed to 79 after stricter approval guidelines were applied. It was out of this number that nine new private universities were cleared by the council on Wednesday.
The newly approved universities include Tazkiyah University, Kaduna, Kaduna State; Leadership University, Abuja, FCT; Jimoh Babalola University, Ilorin, Kwara State; Bridget University, Mbaise, Okirika-Nweke, Imo State, and Greenland University, Jalingo, Taraba State.
Others are JEFAP University, Suleja, Niger State; Azione Verde University, Amaigbo, Imo State; Unique Open University, Ojo, Lagos State, and American Open University, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
“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.
