FG bows to ASUU, declares seven-year moratorium on new universities, others

In response to one of the key demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to halt proliferation of universities, the Federal Government has declared a sweeping seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria.

The decision was taken on Wednesday at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The embargo on establishment of new tertiary institutions followed a memo presented to the Council by the Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa in a bid to arrest the proliferation of tertiary institutions that are under-utilised. This also aims to refocus resources on improving existing ones.

Recall that the leadership of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), last week issued a warning to the Federal Government against a looming strike action over unmet demands.

One of the issues raised by the ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, was the issue of proliferation of universities as well as poor welfare of lecturers and renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement among others.

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The Union warned the Federal Government against proliferation of universities in the country, describing some of the institutions, especially those being established by some state governments as “glorified secondary schools” because of lack of infrastructure and enabling environment for effective teaching and learning learning.

ASUU has also consistently expressed worry that the intervention from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is now thinly spread on institutions that are not functioning optimally while the existing institutions are bedeviled with infrastructure decay and deficit in addition to poor attention being paid to welfare of lecturers.

Minister of Education, Dr. Alausa who briefed State House correspondents after the FEC meeting noted that access to tertiary education in Nigeria was “no longer the problem.”

He reaffirmed the position of the Unions that the main challenge now is the unchecked duplication of federal tertiary institutions leading to alarming inefficiencies, poor infrastructure, inadequate staffing, and declining student enrolment.

According to him, several federal universities operate far below capacity, with some having fewer than 2,000 students. In one northern institution, the Minister disclosed, there are 1,200 staff serving fewer than 800 students.

“This is a waste of government resources. Today, we have 199 universities where fewer than 100 candidates applied through JAMB for admission. In fact, 34 universities recorded zero applications,” he said.

“The situation is not limited to universities. Out of 295 polytechnics nationwide, many had fewer than 99 applicants last year, while 219 colleges of education recorded similarly poor enrolment. Sixty-four colleges of education had no applicants at all.

The Minister warned that if the trend continues, Nigeria risked producing poorly trained graduates, losing international respect for its degrees, and worsening unemployment as thousands of ill-prepared graduates entered a saturated job market.

The moratorium, he stressed, would enable the government to mobilise resources to upgrade facilities, recruit qualified staff, and expand the carrying capacity of existing federal tertiary 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. This way, we can sustain the respect the world has for our graduates,” Alausa said.

He pointed out that Nigeria currently has 72 federal universities, 42 federal polytechnics, and 28 federal colleges of education, in addition to hundreds run by states and private investors. There are also specialised institutions such as colleges of agriculture, health sciences, nursing, and innovation enterprise institutions, many of which are also under-enrolled.

Notwithstanding the freeze, the Minister disclosed that FEC also approved nine new universities.

Shedding light, Alausa explained that these were not fresh proposals but long-pending private applications, some dating back over six years, that had already undergone rigorous evaluation under the National Universities Commission (NUC).

“When we came in, there were about 551 applications for private universities. Many had been in limbo for years because of inefficiencies in the NUC’s processing system,” he said.

The minister said his team overhauled the process, deactivating more than 350 inactive applications and introducing strict new guidelines with clear timelines. Out of 79 active applications, nine met the criteria and were approved.

“These are private investments where billions of naira have already been spent on infrastructure. It would have been unfair to deny them approval because of past inefficiencies. But this does not affect the moratorium on federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education,” Alausa emphasised.

He added that similar moratoriums are already in place for new private polytechnics and colleges of education to prevent a further glut of poorly subscribed institutions.

The minister applauded President Tinubu for backing the reforms, saying the decision reflected the administration’s determination to deliver “world-class” education to Nigerians.

“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 said.

The seven-year freeze, the Minister added, is intended to be a reset button for Nigeria’s tertiary education system,  shifting focus from quantity to quality.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE