No Plan To Handover Public Varsities To Foreign Investors- FG
The Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, has refuted the circulating news alleging that the Nigerian Government intends to transfer control of public universities to local and international private investors.
Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman stated this at the Quarterly Engagement of Education Ministers with Directors, Heads of Agencies and Parastatals under the Ministry held in Abuja, Nigeria.
The news was rife in recent times that the Federal Government was making moves to hand over public universities to private investors.
Debunking the assertion, the Minister said there has been misinformation in the media on one aspect of the policy of this government in respect of tertiary education.
“Some people have been carrying the information that the Federal government is selling off public universities to private investors. This is completely false,” he said
According to him, the government of the day believes in the provision of public institutions, even as it is not shying away from reforms the country needs. He said both public and private Universities will keep on running side by side in the country even in the face of the reforms.
“What this government has done is to open up the tertiary education level in particular the universities for global competitiveness that allows those who operate in this area at the international level to come into the country and set up institutions either by themselves or in collaboration with our local universities under very clear guidelines of what is called transnational education.”
“The private sector for decades now has played a major role in the provision of Tertiary Education. There are more private universities in Nigeria than all the government own combined,” he said.
He further explained that in other parts of the world, countries benefit immensely from having renowned international institutions, setting up campuses or setting up completely new institutions in those countries.
“Those have taken standards to those countries, especially in Asia. It has also saved those countries foreign exchange and even brought more into the country.
“This is what this government has done, it has opened up the tertiary institutions that enable people from the rest of the world to come in and invest in our tertiary education. It is not parting with any of these institutions.
“Those misinterpreting this policy have got the message wrong,” he said.
He said the quarterly engagement was to review progress, and challenges and proffer solutions as well as commitment towards the educational landscape in the country.
Lantana Nasir
