In a decisive move to overhaul Nigeria’s higher education landscape, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a seven-year suspension on the establishment of new federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
The policy, endorsed at Wednesday’s FEC meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu, is aimed at halting the unchecked spread of underutilised institutions, reducing the strain on government resources, and reversing the decline in academic standards.
Minister of Education, Maruf Olatunji Alausa, who presented the proposal, said the challenge facing Nigeria’s tertiary sector was no longer access, but the wasteful duplication of institutions, inadequate infrastructure, poor staffing, and dwindling student enrolment.
“Several federal universities operate far below capacity, some with fewer than 2,000 students. In one northern university, there are 1,200 staff serving fewer than 800 students. This is simply unsustainable,” he revealed.
Data from the ministry paints a troubling picture: last year, 199 universities received fewer than 100 JAMB applications each, with 34 recording none.
Many of the country’s 295 polytechnics had fewer than 99 applicants, while 64 of 219 colleges of education attracted zero interest.
Alausa warned that this proliferation of poorly subscribed institutions risks producing ill-prepared graduates, eroding the global value of Nigerian degrees, and worsening unemployment.
The moratorium, he explained, would allow the government to channel resources into modernising facilities, hiring qualified staff, and expanding existing institutions to operate at full capacity.
“If we want to improve quality and not become a global laughing stock, we must pause and consolidate,” he stressed.
Nigeria currently has 72 federal universities, 42 federal polytechnics, and 28 federal colleges of education, alongside hundreds of state-owned and private institutions.
The minister clarified that the freeze does not affect private universities, and confirmed that nine new privately owned universities , whose licences had already met regulatory standards, were approved at the same FEC meeting.
