By Dayo Adesulu
The Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed has said that the Commission in collaboration with development partners was working to provide financial loan for undergraduates to enable them pay their school fees.
Rasheed who disclosed this during a two-day National Summit on Private Universities in Abuja said: “The Commission in collaboration with development partners was working to provide finance as a loan scheme, where students with admission who could not afford their school fees could borrow from the scheme and pay upon graduation.”
According to him, the scheme when fully established would be all inclusive for both students of Public and Private Universities. He assured that the scheme would be of immense benefit to Private Universities as it would enable students with admissions in these universities pay their fees with ease thereby increasing access.
NUC identifies 68 Illegal Universities
Professor Rasheed lamented the increase in the number of illegal universities in Nigeria, adding that the Commission was doing all within its powers to stem the activities of these individuals establishing degree mills and defrauding unsuspecting parents and students. He called on participants at the Summit to continue to partner with the Commission to expose the activities of such fraud stars.
He said: “we have identified 68 degree mills in the country and they are currently facing prosecution by the law enforcement agencies and we know there are more of them out there that we are not aware of. Kindly partner with us to rid our educational system of these fraud stars. On our part we will continue to inform the public of their activities as we continue to publish their names on our weekly bulletin and website” he said.
Moreover, While presenting the lead paper titled, “Regulating Private University Education Delivery in Nigeria: The Role of the National Universities Commission” he said there was need to review the requirements for establishment of private universities in line with current realities.
He, however stressed that it was no longer visible for individuals or corporate organisations to own land up to 100 hectares in present day Nigeria, where land had become a scarce resource due to the increasing population growth and urbanisation. He insisted that with well over 1.5 million candidates, who sat for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) seeking admission into higher institution, there was need for government to continue to seek ways of expanding access.
Over 300 applicants await NUC approval of new varsities
The Executive Secretary hinted that the Commission was currently processing well over 300 applications for the establishment of private universities. He assured that the Commission would scale down its requirements on land acquisition to enable prospective proprietors with less than the required 100hectares invest in the sector.
He said: “last year, we licensed a private university in Kano. The University currently run at its take-off Campus, with a 17-storey story building. The space in the building had been well managed, with good lecture rooms and well-equipped laboratories and lectures offices. NUC, he said, know clearly that there could be small universities with few programmes unlike the bigger Universities, with a concentration on specialised programmes within available smaller spaces in the City.
Private universities remain key to unlock national economy
He expressed hope that despite the present challenges limiting private institutions from achieving their full potentials, they still remained the key to unlocking the socio-economic potentials of the nation. He assured NUC within its regulatory mandate would reposition the private university for optimal delivery of quality higher education in Nigeria.
