No fewer than 48 bills were introduced for the establishment of new universities across the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, according to an examination of the Senate and House of Representatives 2022 legislative proposals.
Some of the bills were proposed at the height of the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which lasted between 14th February and 13th October 2022.
One of the concerns raised by the union was the proliferation of universities.
According to the academic body, there was no need for the establishment of new universities if the government could not take care of the existing ones.
But in a recent public appearance, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, said Nigeria did not have enough universities to accommodate the number of candidates seeking admission.
There are 111 private institutions, 59 state-owned universities, and 50 federal universities operating in Nigeria at the moment.
However, data obtained from the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board revealed that the universities have less than 800,000 admission quotas.
Notable among the bills for universities introduced in 2022 are those for the establishment of the Federal University of Transport, Daura; the University of Broadcast and Film Studies, Jos; Nigerian Police University of Information and Technology, Abeokuta; the University of Aerospace and Aerospace and Aeronautic, Oka-Akoko; the Federal University of Technology, Orekpe; the Forensic Science University of Nigeria, Erin-Ile; the University of Environmental Sciences, Lagos State; and the Veterinary University, Vom, Plateau State, among others.
The Programme Director of Reform Education Nigeria, Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, stressed the need for alternate funding for universities, which, according to her, will aid the take-off of new universities.
She said: “For universities to function, they need take-off grants; a university cannot properly function without this grant.
“We also need to understand that while the argument of ASUU is valid, we also need to look at the situation we are in now—the issue of carrying capacity in our universities is something else.
“We have quite many young applicants who are seeking university education, and when they do not get admitted, they stay at home doing nothing. These are some of the issues that need to be addressed”.
