The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Dr. Chris Maiyaki says the commission will continue to approve the establishment of more public and private Universities in Nigeria as the current number cannot meet the demand and supply gap.
He stated this at a media parley with members of the Education Correspondents’ Association of Nigeria (ECAN), in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Dr Mayaki while reeling out achievements of the University regulatory agency said Nigeria currently has 270 Universities with an additional two coming on board next week as approval has been given.
He said each year, close to 2 million Candidates apply for admission into Nigerian Universities, however only between 500,000 to 700,000 candidates get admission, a development which causes pain for the families of candidates, the candidates themselves, and the University leaders.
“Nigeria will continue to widen university access by approving more universities to meet its demands and supply of quality education.
“We have no choice but to as a matter of deliberate policy, undertake the massification of universities,” he said.
He said comparatively, the USA which has 335 million population has over 1,000 Universities, just as Brazil and Indonesia with a lesser population than Nigeria have more Universities.
He said based on this analogy, Nigeria with over 200 million population needs more Universities.
“Nigeria is under-subscribed as we have less numbers of Universities compared to the UK, USA, and India,” he said.
Dr. Maiyaki said to Improve access to Universities and meet the competing needs of candidates, Nigeria has approved the Transnational Education (TNE), Guidelines which gives foreign countries opportunities to establish high standard Universities in Nigeria.
“This TNE system will make our graduates globally competitive. it is on the tripods of teaching, learning, and research.
“It will stem the tide of Nigerians going out to seek foreign University education,” he said.
According to him, the agency is currently processing applications for the establishment of distance learning centers that will be monitored to provide quality University Education, stressing that this is a departure from the previously banned distance learning programs across the country
He said the commission in addition to public-owned Open Universities, has approved four (4) new private open Universities for location in different parts of the country.
He said the commission has also developed a Unit cost analysis of what it will take to train a student in Nigerian tertiary institutions, as part of ensuring the successful implementation of the student loan scheme, which will be launched next week.
“It is a guideline for public and private Universities in Nigeria as scholars begin to apply for the loan. They know how much it takes, for example, to train a medical doctor or an Engineer,” he said.
He called on stakeholders to key into the recently released 2023/2024 Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standard (CCMAS), as “it is a paradigm shift to make Nigerian Universities and its graduates globally competitive.”
He said a reference database for all Professors in Nigeria has also been published and will aid local and international agencies looking for experts as it continues to collaborate and partner with institutions for more development.
He enumerated that the removal of tertiary institutions from the IPPIS payment platform was a major success recorded by the commission as it has given the universities more autonomy.
He said the commission stands against issues of Degree mills, and certificate racketeering, stressing that the committee set up to investigate the foreign university certificate racketeering will soon submit its report.
On the allegation that a Nigeria University was urging students to pay school fees in US dollars, the NUC boss said the allegation has been investigated and it turned out to be a false allegation, stressing that by law “no Nigerian University is allowed to charge and collect fees in foreign currency.”
“It was only Foreign students that were being charged in foreign currency and it is global practice for foreign scholars to pay fees in foreign currencies,” he said
Despite the success stories, the NUC Executive Secretary said the Commission faces challenges of incessant strikes by University Unions which affects the smooth running of the academic calendar adding that paucity of funds has also led to the slow pace of ICT deployment in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
The NUC boss was presented with an award for excellence by the ECAN, which he described as a mark of recognition for a job well done.
“I dedicate this recognition to all the staff of the NUC, beginning from the security man at the gate to the highest ranking person. We did it together. I appreciate ECAN for the recognition,” he said
The Chairman of ECAN, Mr. Chuks Ukwuatu said the recognition was based on key performance indicators set by the association which saw NUC come top.
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