Federal government on Friday, presented operational licences to the 37 newly approved private universities in the country.
Recall that the Federal Executive Council, FEC, had on May 15,2023, approved the registration of 37 private universities in Nigeria.
The presentation of the licences was carried out by the National Universities Commission,NUC,at its headquarters in Abuja.
With the development,the number of private universities operating in the country is now 147, according to the Executive Secretary of the commission,Prof. Abubakar Rasheed.
The NUC boss,who also said the country now has a total of 264 universities,noted that investment in tertiary education was a requirement for human capital development in Nigeria.
According to him, access to university education remained a challenge due to the high demand and increasing number of secondary school graduates.
He said:”The Nigerian statistics of high demand of tertiary education is grossly inadequate. Statistics put the number of enrollment in tertiary institutions at 2.23 million which is about 12 per cent of the total population of 220 million.”
He challenged the proprietors of the newly established universities to ensure that the motive for creating the universities were not for money but for a higher and noble goal.
Rasheed said:”In establishing universities, you don’t expect to get financial rewards. If your main motive is to make money, then you are in a wrong place. You are here to pay back to humanity.
”The establishment of private universities is in dire need of passion from people, so that passion should drive you.”
While charging the proprietors of quality assurance in the universities, the NUC boss assured of the commission’s support and cooperation to grow the university system.
Speaking at the occasion,the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education,Mr David Adejo, said the federal government was committed to public private partnership, especially in education sector which gave rise to the new universities.