The federal government on Friday issued provisional licences to four former state governors and 33 other proprietors of private universities recently approved by the federal executive council (FEC).
Recall that FEC had, on May 15, approved the establishment of 37 new private universities in the country.
The former governor of Nasarawa State and current national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Mr. Abdullahi Adamu got the licence to run Phoenix University, Agwada, Nasarawa State; erstwhile governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke, got the approval to operate Duke Medical University, Calabar; Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State was licensed to operate Hensard University, Toru-Orua, while Attahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto got his to run Amaj University, Kwali-Abuja.
The permanent secretary, federal ministry education, Mr. David Adejo, announced the approval at an event organised by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to unveil Phoenix University in Abuja.
He said the licensing upped the number of private universities in Nigeria to 147.
Adejo said the provisional approval given to the universities was aimed at creating room for effective mentoring and qualitative growth within the first three years of operation.
He said during the monitoring period, the new universities would be affiliated to older generation universities for academic and administrative mentoring to be moderated by NUC.
“This is part of NUC‘s initiative for early-warning signals to detect compromises in quality for the application of corrective and remedial measures to redress such situations.
“Substantive licences will be issued to well-managed institutions after the three years of probation following their satisfactory performance and growth, within guidelines stipulated by the commission,” he said.
He justified the need to increase the number of universities in the country, taking into consideration Nigeria’s estimated population of over 200 million.
He noted that private universities had contributed to the opening up of admission space for the swelling population of Nigerians seeking university education in the country.
He observed that the argument in some quarters that private universities had become too many in Nigeria was not plausible, noting that comparative figures of universities in other countries show that Nigeria needs more universities.
“Government is also well aware that countries that are consistently well-ranked in Human Development indices have, in recognition of the important role of Universities in human capital development, maintained a respectable number of Universities relative to their population,” Adejo said.
“In relation to Nigeria’s population of over 200 million, the current 264 Universities is quite low when compared to those of other economies’ such as, Korea, Indonesian among others,” he added.
He assured that government would continue to encourage NUC to keep strengthening its quality assurance mechanism so that as the number increases, quality and relevance to national needs are not compromised.
The other new private universities are – Rayhaan University, Kebbi; Muhammad Kamalud University Kwara; Sam Maris University, Ondo State; Althea University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State; and Lux Mundi University Umuahia, Abia State.
Others are – Maduka University, Ekwegbe, Enugu State; PeaceLand University, Enugu State; Amadeus University, Amizi, Abia State; Vision University, Ikogbo, Ogun State; and Azman University, Kano State.
Also granted provisional approval are – Huda University, Gusau, Zamafara State; Franco British International University, Kaduna State; Canadian University of Nigeria, Abuja; Miva Open University, Abuja FCT; and Gerar University of Medical Science Imope Ijebu, Ogun State; British Canadian University, Obudu Cross River State; Wigwe University, Isiokpo Rivers State; and Hillside University of Science and Technology, Okemisi, Ekiti State.
Also given provisional licences are the University on the Niger, Umunya, Anambra State, Elrazi Medical University, Yargaya University, Kano State, Venite University, Iloro-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Shanahan University Onitsha, Anambra State, Mercy Medical University, Iwo, Ogun State, Cosmopolitan University Abuja and Iconic Open University, Sokoto State.
Others include, West Midlands Open University, Ibadan, Oyo State, Prime University, Kuje, FCT Abuja, El-Amin University, Minna, Niger State, College of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Kaduna State, Jewel University, Gombe State, Nigerian University of Technology and Management, Apapa, Lagos State, Al-Muhibbah Open University, Abuja and Al-Bayan University, Ankpa, Kogi State.
