Nigeria’s Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has condemned the Federal Government’s decision to grant new licences to private universities, saying the move undermines efforts to improve the quality of higher education.

In a statement signed by its president, Christopher Piwuna, the union described the decision as contradictory, noting that it came shortly after the government announced a seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new federal tertiary institutions.

“ASUU watched in awe as the Federal Government announced the moratorium, then proceeded to approve nine new private universities,” the statement said. The union argued that access to university education was no longer the problem, stressing that the challenge lay in sustaining quality.

The group highlighted that Nigeria already has 339 universities – 72 federal, 108 state and 159 private – averaging nine per state, excluding polytechnics and colleges of education. It said this “scandalous proliferation” had weakened standards, while leaving several universities grossly under-subscribed.

ASUU accused successive governments of using university approvals for political patronage, ignoring long-term planning. It recalled that the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, recently admitted that more than 30 universities recorded zero admissions during the last Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exercise. Some federal universities, he added, were running at less than 30 per cent capacity.

The lecturers’ union maintained that spreading scarce resources across mushroom universities was both “meaningless and wasteful”, warning that the practice risked erasing Nigerian institutions from global rankings and diminishing the value of local degrees.

Beyond criticising new licences, ASUU reiterated its call on the government to address unresolved issues affecting public universities and staff. These include the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, revitalisation funding, unpaid salary arrears, promotion backlogs, and pension concerns for retired academics.

The union warned that the Federal Government’s continued “deaf ear” to its demands could trigger another nationwide strike. “ASUU may have no other option than to embark on an action to press the government to listen and act,” the statement concluded.