The Federal Government has placed a seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new tertiary institutions in Nigeria, citing low enrollment and poor quality in existing universities and polytechnics.
The Minister of Education, Dr Morufu Olatunji Alausa, said the decision was based on data showing that 199 universities received fewer than 100 applications through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in 2024, while 34 had none. A similar situation, he noted, exists in polytechnics.
Alausa then warned that poorly subscribed institutions risk producing ill-prepared graduates, eroding the value of Nigerian degrees internationally, and worsening unemployment. Nigeria currently has 302 universities, 75 federal, 67 state, and 160 private, alongside polytechnics and colleges.
However, critics argue that many of these institutions were licensed without alignment to national manpower or developmental needs. At the same time, other education analysts note that specialised universities, such as those for agriculture and technology, often drift into offering general programmes, losing focus on their original mandates.
They suggest that the challenge is not the number of universities but the weak oversight by regulatory bodies such as the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). They recommend stricter enforcement of standards and more specialised institutions to address national skills gaps.
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