FG Imposes 7-Year Freeze on New Federal Tertiary Institutions to Address Poor Enrolment, Infrastructure

The Federal Government has announced a seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. The decision, approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday, aims to address overstretched resources, inadequate infrastructure, and declining student enrolment in existing institutions.

President Bola Tinubu presided over the FEC meeting in Abuja, where the Minister of Education, Maruf Olatunji Alausa, highlighted inefficiencies in the current tertiary education system. Alausa pointed out that many federal universities operate with extremely low student populations, citing an example of one northern institution where 1,200 staff serve fewer than 800 students.

“This is a waste of government resources,” Alausa stated. He revealed that 199 universities received fewer than 100 applications through JAMB last year, with 34 attracting none at all. Similarly, many polytechnics and colleges of education recorded alarmingly low enrolment, with 64 colleges of education having zero applicants.

The minister warned that unchecked expansion of under-subscribed institutions could lead to poorly trained graduates, devalue Nigerian degrees internationally, and exacerbate unemployment. The moratorium will allow the government to focus on improving existing facilities, recruiting qualified staff, and enhancing the capacity of current institutions.

“To improve quality and avoid being a global laughingstock, the pragmatic step is to halt new federal institutions,” Alausa emphasized.

Nigeria currently has 72 federal universities, 42 polytechnics, and 28 colleges of education, in addition to state, private, and specialized institutions. Despite the freeze, FEC approved nine new private universities whose applications—some pending for six years—had already undergone full evaluation by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

See author's posts