Institute Director General urges Commission to stop licensing new Universities

The Director General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies NILDS, Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, has told the National Assembly to direct the National Universities Commission NUC to stop issuing licenses to new Universities.

Professor Sulaiman made the call at the National Summit on Tertiary Education Reform 2022, held in Abuja.

He noted that the NUC should instead, channel its resources towards strengthening the existing institutions by ensuring they are adequately funded.

According to him, one of the major challenges confronting the country’s tertiary education sector is the proliferation of tertiary institutions.

Professor Sulaiman observed that the implication is the acute shortage of qualified personnel, putting the system which is already suffering from poor quality of staff, into further jeopardy.

“Many of these new tertiary institutions were established simply because the federal government has adopted a policy of spreading educational opportunities across the geopolitical zones notwithstanding its fiscal constraints, or established as patronage to constituents.” 

To stop the disturbing trend professor Sulaiman said, the National Assembly should by resolution, should place a moratorium on the further establishment of both public and private Universities.

He also called on both National and State assemblies to strengthen tertiary institutions through the establishment of legislation, especially in the area of disciplinary procedures.

PIAK