FG bans establishment of new universities for seven years

• The moratorium, which was approved during the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, aims to tackle duplication of tertiary institutions and improve the quality of existing ones

The Federal Government has imposed a seven-year suspension on creating new federal universities, polytechnics and other tertiary institutions in the country.

The moratorium, which was approved during the Federal Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, aims to tackle duplication of tertiary institutions and improve the quality of existing ones.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, confirmed the development while addressing newsmen after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday.

While stating that access to tertiary education was no longer a challenge in the country, he noted that the operation of many federal universities is suboptimal and draining government lean resources.

“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.

He said the pervasive practice was a duplication of new federal tertiary institutions, and a significant reduction in the current capacity of each of these institutions, tertiary institutions, universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.

In the memo, which was approved in the council meeting, it was also stated that the ministry would review and reform the guidelines for approving new private universities to ensure efficiency.

He also added that it was observed that from the recent Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) admission exercise, many institutions had fewer than 100 applicants seeking admission.

Alausa warned that the uncontrolled creation of poorly subscribed institutions risked producing ill-prepared graduates, undermining 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 members, 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 added.