NUC To Revoke Licences Issued To Five Private Universities In Nigeria

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has resolved to revoke the licences issued to five private universities in the country, which have fallen short of the operational guidelines and procedures.

Sunday Independent authoritatively learnt that NUC has placed some of the universities found wanting under investigation before it takes final decision on suspending their operating licences.

Investigations by Sunday Independent also revealed that one of the first victims of the regulatory agency's action may be the Obong University, which is situated at Obong Ntak in Cross River State.

A source at the NUC, who preferred anonymity, also confided in our reporter that other universities that may be affected by the exercise include Fountain University in Osogbo; Wellspring University, Evbuobanosa, Edo State; Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, Edo State, and McPherson University, Seriki Sotoyo, Ajebo, Ogun State, among others.

A list of approved universities in Nigeria as recently released by the commission reveals that there are a total of 129 universities in Nigeria, 40 federal, 39 states and 50 private ones.

While the NUC authorities had repeatedly hinged the creation of additional private universities on the need to boost access to tertiary education in the country, most of these universities may be axed for low students population and bogus programmes or disciplines they offer which the NUC has found to be non-indigenous to the Nigerian environment.

NUC's Department of Quality Assurance, which recently carried out a forensic audit on some of the affected universities, including Obong University, informed that some of them were operating without internet bandwidth, some lacked visibility (no sign-posts), insufficient safety measures, lack of currency in their library holdings, as well as imbalance in staff mix.

Obong University was also alleged to have contravened the commission's directive by continuing to admit students into its Computer Science Department, which had previously been denied accreditation in the programme.

It was also gathered that following the audit on the university, the Governing Council of the university visited the NUC Executive Secretary, Professor Julius Okojie, who in turn, criticised the institution for recruiting some unqualified personnel, including a fake Professor.

Okojie had also decried the poor governance structure of the university, which he said was attributable to the slow pace of development at the university.

Another factor, which may fuel plans to revoke their licences, according to our source, is that NUC is not pleased with the exorbitant fees charged by some of these proprietors, yet they fail to provide adequate funds to sustain infrastructural development.

Recall that more of these private universities came on stream from 2012, during the administration of former Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufa'I, and Nyesom Wike, then Minister of State for Education.

Government had issued out these provisional licenses with the consent of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), hinging it on the need to widen access to tertiary education and boost carrying capacities of other universities in the country.

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Source: Daily Independent
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