Education Minister,
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has criticised the Federal Government for approving the establishment of new private universities, despite its recently announced seven-year moratorium on creating new tertiary institutions.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Thursday and signed by ASUU President, Dr. Christopher Piwuna, the union described the move as contradictory and questioned the logic behind licensing more private universities when access to university education is no longer a major issue in Nigeria.
“ASUU watched in awe as the government announced a moratorium on new tertiary institutions, only to turn around and approve nine new private universities,” the statement read.
While acknowledging the constitutional right of private individuals to establish universities, ASUU insisted that the process must be strictly regulated to ensure quality.
The union accused successive administrations of using university licences as tools of political patronage, warning that the unchecked growth of tertiary institutions poses a threat to educational standards.
“We now have a total of 339 universities—72 federal, 108 state, and 159 private institutions, averaging about nine universities per state, excluding polytechnics and colleges of education,” ASUU noted.
The union called the situation a “scandalous proliferation” of universities and argued that both public and private sectors should be subject to the moratorium if the goal is to strengthen existing institutions.
“Past and present administrations should be ashamed of this reckless expansion, which continues to pull Nigerian universities down in global rankings,” ASUU stated.
The union also pointed fingers at university administrators and regulatory agencies for their role in poor staffing and inadequate planning across the tertiary education sector.
ASUU warned that expanding the number of institutions without adequate manpower would dilute academic quality, devalue degrees, and harm the country’s reputation in global education rankings.
ASUU further recalled its decade-long opposition to what it called “mushroom universities” and expressed disappointment that its warnings have been largely ignored.
“It’s no surprise that the Education Minister revealed that over 30 universities currently have zero admission subscriptions. These institutions are unsustainable and wasteful,” the union stated.
ASUU welcomed the moratorium in principle but emphasized that it must be genuinely enforced across both public and private universities to be effective.
The Federal Executive Council had, on August 13, approved the suspension of new federal tertiary institutions for a seven-year period, citing underutilization of existing schools.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said some federal universities are operating far below capacity, revealing that one northern university had 1,200 staff for fewer than 800 students, calling it a “waste of government resources.”
Meanwhile, ASUU reiterated its longstanding demands, which include the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, payment of revitalisation funds, clearing of outstanding salary arrears, and resolution of promotion backlogs affecting lecturers in public universities.
