UTME: Nigeria needs over 500 universities to absorb candidates — Ex-NUC boss

The immediate past Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, has stated that Nigeria, with its population of over 220 million, needs to create over 500 universities to meet the admission needs of its citizens.

Rasheed dismissed as ignorance or mischief the criticism levelled against the Federal Government for approving the creation of more universities. He argued that the current 261 universities in the country were insufficient, given the number of candidates who take the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) annually.

Speaking at a brief ceremony in Abuja where he handed over leadership of the Commission to the Deputy Executive Secretary, Administration, Mr Chris Maiyaki, Rasheed revealed that his resignation was duly approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The Permanent Secretary, Mr Andrew David Adejo, directed him to hand over to the Deputy Executive Secretary, Administration until a substantive head is appointed.

Rasheed clarified that his resignation, which came two years into his second tenure, was due to personal reasons and his desire to return to Bayero University Kano to continue his teaching career. He explained that his lifelong ambition was to become a professor emeritus, which is why he wished to end his career at the university, as one cannot be called a professor emeritus without achieving this.

The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has consistently opposed what they describe as the proliferation of universities in Nigeria, particularly those established by state governments across the country.

However, the former Executive Secretary of NUC emphasized that education is the right of all citizens and not just the privileged few. He believed that there was a need to create more universities to bridge the significant gap in admission for candidates, highlighting that only 1 per cent of the country’s population is currently studying in Nigerian universities.

Rasheed expressed gratitude to former President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing him in 2016 and reappointing him for a second tenure. He appealed to the staff of the Commission to extend the same support to his successor, in order to continue improving the quality of teaching and learning in the Nigerian university system.

The acting Executive Secretary, Mr Chris Maiyaki, pledged to work with the Commission’s management to ensure that graduates of the university system can compete favourably with their counterparts worldwide.

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