ABUJA, Nigeria — The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
Announcing the decision after Wednesday’s meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu, Minister of Education Dr. Tunji Alausa said the move is aimed at halting the “systemic decay” caused by unregulated expansion of tertiary institutions.
“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,” Alausa said.
“If we do not act decisively, it will lead to marked declines in educational quality and undermine the international respect that Nigerian graduates command.”
Nigeria currently has 72 federal universities, 108 state universities, and 159 private universities, with similar trends in polytechnics and colleges of education.
The minister noted that some institutions are severely underpopulated, citing a northern university with fewer than 800 students but over 1,200 staff.
Under the moratorium, the government will focus on upgrading facilities, improving manpower, and expanding the carrying capacity of existing schools.
In the same meeting, FEC approved nine new private universities from a backlog of 79 applications—some pending for over six years.
Alausa said many investors had already completed campuses and spent billions of naira, but approvals were delayed due to inefficiencies at the National Universities Commission (NUC), which he said have now been addressed.
