The rapid increase in the number of universities in the country has become a paradox. Not only are concerns being raised about quality, funding, and the overall impact on national development, but the unfolding situation also poses significant challenges for the labour market and societal attitudes towards education.
While expanding access to higher education is a commendable initiative, the fact that political patronage, rather than academic excellence, is the primary motivation behind the establishment of many new institutions diminishes the corresponding enhancement in quality and ultimately contributes to an educational crisis.
Matters are also not helped when policy flip-flops on the part of the government sees more universities being licensed to commence business when existing ones are barely funded, inadequately staffed, and poorly equipped.
The National Universities Commission (NUC) in its May 2024 bulletin confirmed that Nigeria’s over 260 universities (62 federal, 63 state, and 149 private) have only 100, 000 academic staff servicing over 2.1 million students—a ratio of 1:21, far above the global benchmark of 1:10. Doubtless, this glaring disparity among other issues of grave concern, are responsible for only a few Nigerian universities being highly ranked globally.
According to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2025, only 21 Nigerian universities are featured, and none are in the global top 500, with the highest-ranked institution being Covenant University, which is placed in the 801–1000 bracket globally.
With the poor showing of Nigerian universities on both the local and international scenes (even if the statistics are not flawless), many stakeholders accuse the NUC of systemic corruption and engaging in underhanded dealings during accreditation exercises.
A former Vice-Chancellor of Ebonyi State University (ESBU), Prof. Frank Idike, alleged recently that some institutions misled the NUC during accreditation. He called for better detection methods by the NUC, saying: “In some universities, when the NUC team visits for accreditation, they rent staff, buses, and other learning facilities to raise their status. It is a very bad practice. They borrowed all these to gain full accreditation status, misleadingly. NUC should have a way of detecting this,” Idike said, further alleging that the NUC gives full accreditations to universities “without lecturers,” with some departments “graduating students with two or three lecturers.”
According to reports, the NUC in accrediting universities apportions a score of 32 per cent for staffing capacity; 23 per cent for academic content; 25 per cent for physical facilities; 12 per cent for library presence; five per cent for funding, and three per cent for employer rating.
To attain full accreditation status, NUC’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, recently said that a programme must score a minimum of 70 per cent in each of the four core areas, and an overall score of 70 per cent or above in its entirety.
According to him, earning full accreditation status “does not imply that a programme has all the necessary resources in perfect measure,” but is deemed to be an “acceptable standard of performance,” with adequate room for further improvements.
Sadly, many of these struggling institutions produce graduates who lack the skills needed in a competitive job market. Many stakeholders believe that NUC should enforce stricter criteria before approving new universities to prioritise quality over quantity. The recent prescription of the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, that existing universities should expand their capacity is apt and needs further interrogation.
Furthermore, a critical look at the situation in many institutions shows that lecturers manage up to 1,500 students per course, and this severely affects assimilation and dilutes education quality. In some cases, individual lecturers manage between 1,200 and 1,500 students, which far exceeds the NUC’s recommended lecturer-to-student ratio of 1:30.
The pathetic conditions of many institutions perhaps explain why the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, recently described the N3.52 trillion allocated to the education sector in the 2025 budget as falling short of expectations of guaranteeing quality education. The former speaker of the House of Representatives, who was a guest lecturer at the maiden yearly lecture of the Osun State University (UNIOSUN) themed: ‘Interrogating Funding of Education: Global versus Nigerian Perspectives’, acknowledged that education is a right and not a privilege of all Nigerians, but that the reality on the ground is that the federal government and states could not afford to fund qualitative education. He lamented that the proliferation of universities is inevitable owing to pressure mounted on representatives to facilitate universities in lawmakers’ constituencies.
When universities proliferate without a substantive focus on quality, public trust in higher education diminishes. Hence, it is time for stringent criteria for university establishment to be put in place to ensure that new institutions meet high academic standards. This regulatory framework should focus on quality assurance in existing schools as well. It is also extremely important for the government to prioritise funding of existing institutions, with emphasis on the establishment of research centres and facilities that foster innovation and skill development.
Since it is becoming obvious that many new universities are established as political concessions rather than institutions committed to knowledge production, approving authorities must jettison the idea of approving new universities to appease constituencies or reward political allies, without adequate plans for sustainable funding, staffing, or infrastructure.
Four months ago, the Federal Government granted provisional licences for 11 new private universities to operate in the country, “having met all the requirements of the NUC and have been awarded provisional licences to commence operations.” These schools, when operational, would increase the number of private universities in the country to 160.
Also, in January this year, Education Minister, Dr Alausa, while speaking at a budget defence before the joint House of Representatives Committees on Education, revealed that the ministry was considering a proposal to convert all federal colleges of education in the country to universities of education. If things work as planned, the total number of federal universities would balloon to 86 from the current 54, including four inter-university centres.
Government’s focus on establishing new universities or issuing licences to private operators rather than strengthening existing ones indicates a misalignment of priorities as long-term, sustainable development in academia requires investing in the enhancement of infrastructure, faculty training, and curriculum development.
World-class universities drive innovation through research. However, Nigeria’s underfunded institutions produce minimal research output, which ultimately limits technological and societal advancement.
Countries like South Korea and Singapore invest heavily in university research, leading to breakthroughs in science, technology, and industry. Conversely, many new universities in Nigeria lack well-equipped laboratories, libraries, and research grants, making them “glorified secondary schools.”
Long before the Tinubu-led administration thought about converting COEs to universities, some state governments had already embarked on that spree. Among states that have converted their COEs to universities are Lagos, Sokoto, Kwara, Delta, Kano, Oyo, and Ogun.
Subpar universities give birth to a workforce with inadequate skills and preparation for the job market, exacerbating unemployment and underemployment issues. Therefore, a moratorium on new universities should be imposed until existing ones meet basic standards of staffing, research funding, and infrastructure. Nigeria does not necessarily need more universities, but better-funded and better-managed ones.
