By Peter Dansu In a decisive move to clear a backlog of delayed applications, the Federal Government has approved the establishment of nin...
By Peter Dansu
In a decisive move to clear a backlog of delayed applications, the Federal Government has approved the establishment of nine new private universities across Nigeria — just before enforcing a seven-year moratorium on fresh applications for new private tertiary institutions.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made the announcement on Wednesday while addressing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The newly licensed institutions are:
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Tazkiyah University, Kaduna State
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Leadership University, Abuja
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Jimoh Babalola University, Kwara State
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Bridget University, Mbaise, Imo State
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Greenland University, Jigawa State
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JEFAP University, Niger State
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Azione Verde University, Imo State
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Unique Open University, Lagos State
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American Open University, Ogun State
According to Dr. Alausa, the Tinubu administration inherited 551 pending requests for the establishment of tertiary institutions. These were subjected to stricter approval guidelines, which whittled the number down to 79 active applications — with nine finally cleared for approval on Wednesday.
The minister revealed that many of these universities had been waiting for accreditation for over six years, despite their promoters having already built campuses and invested billions of naira.
“Due to inefficiencies within the NUC, approvals were delayed. We have since introduced reforms to streamline these processes, and today’s approvals are a result of clearing this backlog,” he explained.
With this action, the Federal Government has halted all new applications for private universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education for the next seven years, except those meeting the newly introduced operational standards.
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