Since the beginning of the current ASUU strike over 5 months ago, there have been about 63 bills submitted to the Senate and House of Representatives for the establishment of new universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
However, the government has been cautioned by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) against creating new institutions while underfunding the ones that already exist.
Nigeria reportedly has 49 federal universities in total. While, there are 59 state universities and 111 private universities in the nation, according to details Clariform has obtained from the National Universities Commission’s official statistics.
Additionally, according to the National Board for Technical Education, there are 40 Federal Polytechnics, 49 State-owned Polytechnics, and 76 Private Polytechnics.
Nigeria now has 17 private colleges of health, out of a total of 70 federal and state-owned institutions.
Additionally, 219 colleges of education are currently operating in Nigeria, according to the National Commission for Colleges of Education.
According to an analysis of the 63 bills on the creation of new institutions under consideration by the Senate and the House of Representatives, federal universities are the subject of 26 of them, and colleges specializing in education, agriculture, health, technology, and forestry are the subject of 33 of them.
The legislators are also working on four bills to establish new polytechnics.
Reactions:
Victor Olumekun, a professor at Adekunle Ajasin University in Ondo State, criticized the lawmakers for turning the creation of new institutions into constituency projects in an interview.
He said:
“I say it often that it is not the number of universities that we have that matters but the capacity to do what universities are supposed to be doing.”
“As academia, we don’t have to establish universities in every town, village, and hamlet. University education is not about the number, it is about capacity.”
The National President of ASUP, Dr. Anderson Ezeibe, said the move showed a clear lack of direction.
In Dr. Anderson Ezeibe words, “We have continued to maintain that government should fund existing institutions to enable them to meet their mandates. Passing bills for new institutions at this time is for political convenience and not in the public interest.”
Dr. Ahmed Bazza, the General Secretary of COEASU, also criticized the move.
He said, “There is a shortage of lecturers in all tertiary institutions because the system has made it so harsh that there is a high level of brain drain in the system. We are trying to cope with that and also trying to cope with the funding and facilities.”
“Then someone will just wake up for political reasons and say he is proposing a bill to establish a new university. That is not fair to the system honestly.”
Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, the program director for Reform Education Nigeria, also charged the legislators with seeking political gain.
He said, “It is so unfortunate that we live in a country where lawmakers use matters like education to score cheap political goals, this is unheard of in any part of the world.”
“How will you propose new bills for new institutions when the existing ones are on shutdown? Who advises these individuals?”
