By Chika Nwachukwu
National Universities Commission, NUC, has announced a one-year moratorium on the establishment of new private universities in Nigeria, effective from Monday, February 10, 2025.
This decision is part of the commission’s efforts to improve the quality and coordination of private higher education in the country.
In a statement released yesterday, the NUC explained that the moratorium would affect applications that have been inactive or at the preliminary stage for over two years, adding that the suspension applies to all new applications for the establishment of private universities, including those for private open universities.
The statement said as part of the new directives, the NUC had also raised the fees for application processing.
The cost of purchasing application forms, according to the statement, has been increased from N1 million to N5 million, while the processing fee for the establishment of a private university has jumped from N5 million to N25 million.
Executive secretary of NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu emphasised the importance of this review.
“This decision is aimed at repositioning private universities to better serve the needs of the Nigerian populace and meet global standards”, he said.
The Commission highlighted that the changes were necessary to ensure that new private universities are equipped to handle the educational challenges of the 21st century.
Ribadu reassured stakeholders that pending active applications would still be processed, and recommendations would be forwarded to the Federal Executive Council for approval.
“In exercise of its mandates, the Commission has since 1999 recommended and the federal government has approved the establishment of 149 private universities in Nigeria to date.
“The Commission, in its efforts at repositioning Private Universities in Nigeria to better meet the needs of the citizenry and for better co-ordination of the development of the Private University Education sub-sector of the Nigerian University System, NUS, has identified the need to review the guidelines for the establishment of private universities. This is to ensure that newly established private universities are positioned to meet the challenges of the 21 Century”, the statement said.
