FEC Bans Establishment Of New Federal Higher Institutions For Seven Years

THE Federal Executive Council (FEC), at a meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, August 13, approved a five-year ban on the establishment of new universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, who disclosed this while addressing State House Correspondents, shortly after the meeting, said the current challenge in Nigeria’s education sector is no longer about access to federal tertiary education, but about addressing the duplication of institutions, which has led to significant deterioration in both infrastructure and manpower.
“In our country, access to quality financial education is no longer an issue,” the minister said.
“What we are witnessing today is duplication of new federal tertiary institutions, a significant reduction in the current capacity of each institution, and degradation of both physical infrastructure and manpower.
“If we do not act decisively, it will lead to marked declines in educational quality and undermine the international respect that Nigerian graduates command.”
Alausa said there are 72 federal universities, 108 state universities and 159 private universities, highlighting similar patterns within polytechnics and colleges of education, in addition to allied institutions, such as monotechnics, colleges of agriculture, health sciences, nursing and innovation and enterprise institutions.
He noted that the numbers demonstrate an over-proliferation of institutions without corresponding demand or resource allocation, saying there is a critical disconnect between the number of institutions and prospective students.
“For the 2024-2026 academic sessions, about 2.1 million young Nigerians applied to our tertiary institutions.
“However, 199 universities had fewer than 99 applicants, and remarkably, 34 universities had zero candidates applying at all.
“This worrying trend repeats itself in polytechnics and colleges of education too. In fact, 295 polytechnics had fewer than 99 applicants, and 219 colleges of education suffered similar fates, with 64 colleges receiving no applicants at all.”
This, he stated, amounted to wasted resources and inefficiencies, citing an example from the northern region where a federal university had fewer than 800 students, but employed over 1,200 staff members.
“This is simply not sustainable,” Alausa stated, noting that many federal universities operated at suboptimal capacity, while unnecessarily stretching government funding, insisting the seven ban is a decisive step toward correcting these inefficiencies.
The minister said the government planned to redirect resources toward upgrading the current institutions, improving both physical infrastructure and manpower and expanding the capacity of existing universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
He said: “We need to improve the quality of our education system and increase the carrying capacity of our current institutions, so that Nigerian graduates can maintain and enhance the respect they enjoy globally.”
Meanwhile, Alausa disclosed that FEC approved the establishment of nine new private universities, whose applications were longstanding and part of a backlog within the National University Commission (NUC), adding: “Several of these applications have been in the pipeline for over six years, with investors 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.
“Today, 79 private university applications are active, and nine of these were approved this week.
“Moving forward, the moratorium also applies to new private universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, ensuring no additional institutions are approved unless they comply with the new standards.”
He hsaid the moratorium was necessary as a pragmatic step toward safeguarding Nigeria’s educational standards and sustainability, noting: “If we do not act now, the level of graduate unemployment will rise and the capital index will be affected due to the growing number of graduates without sufficient life skills to contribute meaningfully to the economy.
“This policy is vital if we want to maintain the global respect for Nigerian education and graduates.”