FG positions the 7-year ban on the creation of new Tertiari-Thage institutes

By Victor Osula, Abuja

The Federal Government has imposed a seven -year ban on the creation of new federal universities, polytechnics and education college across the country.

The Minister of Public Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the decision on Wednesday, during the briefing of the correspondents of the State Chamber after the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

Alausa said that the moratorium, who covers all categories of federal tertiary institutions, aims to curb duplication, stop waste and consolidate resources to improve existing structures and workforce.

He warned that the proliferation of new institutions has extended the resources, with consequent deterioration of infrastructure and down the quality of graduates.

“Today we have 72 Public Federal Universities, 42 Federal Polytechnics and 28 Federal Education Colleges, together with hundreds of state and private institutions.

“Yet, in the academic session of 2024/2025, 199 universities had less than 100 Jamb candidates and 34 had no at all,” he said.

According to him, 295 Polytechnic, public and private, they had less than 100 candidates, while 64 education colleges recorded zero interests. He mentioned a federal university with less than 800 students but 1,200 employees as an example of inefficiency.

The minister added that some federal universities in some parts of northern Nigeria have less than 2,000 students.

The moratorium, he said, will allow the government to rehabilitate infrastructure, recruit and train staff and expand the transport skills of existing schools.

He stressed that politics is designed to safeguard the global competitiveness of Nigerian graduates in line with the mandate of President Tinubu for high quality education that meets international standards.

In the meantime, the FEC has approved the establishment of nine new private universities.

Responding to the concerns about the apparent contradiction, Alausa explained that the approvals were for old -date applications, about six years, delayed by inefficiencies at the National University Commission (NUC).

He revealed that, taking on an assignment with the Minister of State for Education, there were 551 university questions pending private individuals. The new guidelines have reduced the applications active to 79, of which nine met all the requirements and have been approved.

Alausa said that similar moratoriums will soon apply to the creation of private universities, polytechnics and education colleges to ensure that the quality is not sacrificed for expansion.

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