NUC Approved 19 Varsities in 2022 – Report

National Universities Commission data showed that no fewer than 19 federal, state and private universities were approved for operations between January and December 2022, The PUNCH reports.

A breakdown of the 19 approved universities showed that only one federal university, King David Umahi University of Medical Sciences, in Uburu, Ebonyi State, was approved in 2022.

Further analysis revealed that a total of six state universities were approved by 2022.

the Lagos University of Education, Ijanikin; the Lagos University of Science and Technology, Ikorodu; the Shehu Shagari University of Education, Sokoto; the Enugu State University of Medicine and Applied Sciences, Igbo-Eno; and the Emmanuel Alayande University of Education, Oyo State, are among them.

Further analysis revealed that the remaining 12 approved universities were all privately owned.

Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abubakar Adamu, has said promoters of private universities should see their interest in investing in the sector as their contribution to building the university sector and not for profit.

He said this recently when the promoters of the proposed Amadeaus University in Amizi, Abia State, visited the committee to request a second verification visit to the proposed university.

This was announced in the commission’s bulletin, which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday.

The bulletin reads in part: “The Executive Secretary noted that the Commission would continue to encourage well-meaning Nigerians to come on board and contribute to the development of private universities in the country.

“He said that Nigeria currently has a total of 111 private universities spread across the regions of the country, but the country needs more as millions of young people who wanted to get a university degree were unable to do so due to limited access.

“The committee always likes to see and encourage people who want to give something back to society.”