NUC Approves Nine More Private Universities

THE Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, Professor Julius Okojie, has disclosed that the commission has recommended nine new private universities for accreditation in Nigeria.
Prof. Julius Okojie, disclosed this yesterday while speaking at an interactive session with the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN), in Abuja. He said the commission had forwarded the names of the prospective universities mainly in the South-West geo-political zone to the Minister of Education for consideration.

Okojie disclosed that the NUC Governing Board had approved the proposed private universities. However, the proposals sent to the president through the Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, would also receive the input and approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The approval will increase the number of universities in the country from its present 129 to 138.
According to him, government was pleased with the contributions of private sector to the development of the nation's tertiary education.
He said, "We are making recommendation for nine universities through the Minister of Education to the President. What it also means is that we are trying to encourage private sector participation in tertiary education delivery.
"I must also say that only about a week ago, I decided to take the tour of universities that were recommended. You will be sure that what we are going to have is an improvement of what we already have. For those of us who are very familiar with the creation of private universities, we started in an era where you could have a license even though you have no structure at all to the era of saying you must have a takeoff site after which we advise you to move to permanent site.
"But we are now in the new era not only where you have a takeoff site, but you must show evidence of serious activities at the permanent site. What I saw in my trip within one week in Hallmark, Ijebu-Itele, I was in Augustine University in Epe, I was in Christopher in Mowe, I was in Kings near Osogbo and so on.
"I haven't visited Mike Ibru University in the South-East. I must do that before it is approved. I tell you that what I saw were signs that the private sector are very interested in providing facilities in improving tertiary education delivery."
The commission had so far licensed 50 private universities, with majority of them midwifed by Okojie, a development that has earned him “Father of Private Universities in Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, the commission has expressed worry over the spate of award of professorship title in the country.
Okojie, who stated that the practice was creating rooms for quacks, informed that the commission apprehended a fake professor recently. According to him, the professor was working for an unsuspecting university in the country which paid him N300,000 monthly salary.
He said the man, whose name is Ambi P.N and claimed to be a Professor of Statistics would appear in court alongside two others, who were also found to be bearing fake academic titles.
Prof. Okojie also disclosed that the commission is considering introduction of pre-Doctoral Programme in the postgraduate studies of Nigerian universities based on the recommendation of some of the vice chancellors.