The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has criticised the Federal Government for approving the establishment of new private universities, despite its recent announcement of a seven-year moratorium on creating new tertiary institutions.
In a statement signed by its President, Christopher Piwuna, on Thursday, ASUU questioned the rationale behind the decision, arguing that access to university education in Nigeria was no longer a major challenge.
He said, “ASUU also watched in awe as the Federal Government announced the seven-year moratorium; they proceeded to announce the establishment of nine new private universities.
“If we agree that access is no longer an issue, why is the NUC giving more licences to private universities?
“While ASUU acknowledges the rights of private individuals to establish universities, education must be tightly controlled to ensure quality.”
The union lamented what it described as the “scandalous proliferation” of universities, accusing past and present administrations of using licences as political patronage.
The statement added, “The government must therefore promote quality education and shun profiteering in the education sector.
“We have 72 federal and 108 state universities, and 159 private universities, bringing it to a total of 339 universities, giving each state and the FCT an average of nine universities, excluding polytechnics and colleges of education.
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“So why not place a moratorium on both public and private? Past and present administration must cover their faces in shame for this scandalous proliferation of universities.
“Failure to do this will continue to erase our universities from world rankings.
“University administrations and the regulatory agency must equally share in the blame for the wrong staff mix highlighted in the minister’s pronouncement.”
While welcoming the government’s eventual adoption of its call for a moratorium, ASUU warned that the creation of more private institutions would worsen poor staffing, push Nigerian universities out of global rankings, and devalue degrees.
“For more than 10 years, our union has consistently raised alarm over the harmful effects of establishing mushroom universities that the government has no clear plans to develop.
“In total disregard for the time-tested planning that once guided the establishment of universities, we have watched them turn into compensation for political patronage.
“It was therefore not surprising when the Minister of Education admitted that over 30 universities had zero subscriptions for admission.
“We have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that spreading scarce resources too widely is both meaningless and wasteful,” the union stated.
On 13 August, the Federal Executive Council approved a seven-year suspension of new federal tertiary institutions to strengthen existing ones.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, argued that many universities were underutilised, with some northern institutions enrolling fewer than 1,000 students.
“Several federal universities operate far below capacity, with some having fewer than 2,000 students. In one northern university, 1,200 staff serve fewer than 800 students. This is a waste of government resources,” he said.
ASUU, meanwhile, reiterated its demand that government address unresolved issues affecting public universities and academics, including the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, revitalisation funds, unpaid salary arrears, and promotion backlogs.
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