The Federal Executive Council (FEC), chaired by President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday approved a seven-year moratorium on the creation of new federal tertiary educational institutions nationwide.
The ban, which affects universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, is aimed at halting the duplication of institutions and addressing the decline in infrastructure and manpower within the sector.
Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, explained that the current challenge is no longer about access to federal tertiary education but about sustaining quality.
“In our country, access to quality financial education is no longer an issue,” Alausa said.
“What we are witnessing today is duplication of new federal tertiary institutions, a significant reduction in the current capacity of each institution, and degradation of both physical infrastructure and manpower.
“If we do not act decisively, it will lead to marked declines in educational quality and undermine the international respect that Nigerian graduates command.”
Alausa noted that Nigeria already has 72 federal universities, 108 state universities, and 159 private universities, alongside a vast number of polytechnics, colleges of education, monotechnics, colleges of agriculture, health sciences, nursing, and innovation and enterprise institutions.
He said the problem is compounded by low demand for some institutions.
“For the 2024–2026 academic sessions, about 2.1 million young Nigerians applied to our tertiary institutions,” he revealed.
“However, 199 universities had fewer than 99 applicants, and remarkably, 34 universities had zero candidates applying at all. This worrying trend repeats itself in polytechnics and colleges of education too. In fact, 295 polytechnics had fewer than 99 applicants, and 219 colleges of education suffered similar fates, with 64 colleges receiving no applicants at all.”
The minister warned that the proliferation of underutilised institutions translates into wasted resources and inefficiency, stressing that the moratorium is a necessary step to safeguard the quality and reputation of Nigeria’s higher education system.
