The National Universities Commission (NUC) has revealed plan to announce the establishment of two new universities in Nigeria next week.
Acting Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chris Maiyaki, made this disclosure yesterday during an interaction with journalists in Abuja.
The new addition, according to him, will bring the total number of universities in Nigeria to 272.
Maiyaki highlighted the necessity of addressing the admissions gap in the country, where approximately 2 million candidates compete for university spots annually, against an available quota ranging from 500,000 to 700,000.
Despite concerns raised by stakeholders like the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Maiyaki emphasized the imperative of approving new universities to meet the growing demand for higher education.
“The massification of universities is a deliberate policy imperative,” Maiyaki stated, underscoring the crucial role of education investment in national development.
He maintained that Nigeria will continue to widen universities’ access by approving more universities to meet its demands and supply of quality education; adding that efforts are ongoing to reposition the university system through transnational education by allowing foreign varsities to come in and operate in the country.
The Executive Secretary further disclosed that the commission is presently processing applications for the establishment of distance learning centres that will be monitored to provide quality education.
Responding to allegations regarding the dollarization of tuition fees at a private university, Maiyaki clarified that Nigerian universities are not authorized to charge fees in dollars.
“On the dollarisation of tuition fees in this said university, we have investigated it and we discovered that the university is not charging fees in dollars.
They only charge dollars to foreign students. So, I want the media to join hands with us to tell the public that no Nigeria university is allowed to charge fees in dollars.
“The said private university only charges foreign students in dollars and not Nigerian students,” he reiterated.
