The federal government has expressed opposition to the proposals by the National Assembly for creation of nearly 200 new universities in the country.
It said with almost 200 bills in the National Assembly for establishment of new universities, there is a growing concern that the system is becoming overwhelmed.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, stated this in Abuja yesterday during the third edition of the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing.
However, the country currently has 278 universities, 64 of which are federal; 67, state; and 147, private.
The government had, last month, announced a one-year moratorium on the establishment of new private universities “to enhance the quality and sustainability of private universities, ensuring that only institutions with the necessary financial and academic capacity are granted licenses.”
The minister yesterday emphasised that strengthening the capacities of the existing universities is more important than establishing new ones.
He said: “They (lawmakers) are passing a lot of bills. Today, I can tell you that there are almost 200 bills in the National Assembly. We can’t continue like this. Even though we have a lot of them, the capacity for a university to admit is not there. What we need to do now is to rebuild the capacities so that we can offer more viable courses to our citizens.
“We need to stop this (the 200 bills for new universities) from happening. There is so much pressure on the president. We have to, at least, be sensitive to it as well.
“I understand the sentiment of our legislators. They want to show that they are working. We know they are working. But then, we have enough assets, we have enough opportunities out there for students to go to universities.
“What we now need to do is to begin to mobilise more resources to develop infrastructures, build engineering workshops, build laboratories in these universities, recruit international standard teachers, so that we can begin to get these universities to develop, to deliver high quality of education that will be known for as a country.
“Today, if you care to know, we have 64 federal universities, 67 state universities and 147 private universities. If you look at the entire enrolment together, the private universities account for just 7.5% of total undergraduate enrolment. I will tell you the meaning of the number. The total number of undergraduate enrolments today is just about 875,000, which is, at least, fairly low.
“We have universities with less than 1,000 undergraduate students, and there is this intense demand for more universities to be opened. We have to stop that.”
Daily Trust reports that it is not only the legislators that are obsessed with pushing for the establishing of universities as constituency project or for status symbol.
For instance, while the government has put temporary stop to the process of registering new private universities, it has, however, continued to give approval for the establishment of federal universities, some at the instance of some powerful individuals in the executive arm, or through collaboration with the legislators.
Not long ago, President Tinubu assented to two separate bills establishing the Federal University of Agriculture and Development Studies, Iragbiji, Osun State and the Federal University of Technology and Environmental Sciences, Iyin Ekiti, Ekiti State.
On February 3, the president also approved the establishment of the Federal University of Environment and Technology (FUET) in the Ogoni town of Tai, Rivers State.
The president had earlier assented to the takeover and conversion of the forfeited privately owned NOK University, Kachia in Southern Kaduna to Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, among others.
Also within the time under review, the federal government approved the establishment of 11 private universities.
These include: New City University, Ayetoro, Ogun State; University of Fortune, Igbotako, Ondo State; Eranova University, Mabushi, Abuja; Minaret University, Ikirun, Osun State; Abubakar Toyin University, Oke-Agba, Kwara State and Southern Atlantic University, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Others are Lens University, Ilemona, Kwara State; Monarch University, Iyesi-Ota, Ogun State; Tonnie Iredia University of Communication, Benin City, Edo State; Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management, Lagos State and Kevin Eze University, Mgbowo, Enugu State.
(Daily Trust)
