Findings have revealed that no less than 32 bills have been presented to both the Senate and the House of Representatives, advocating for the establishment of new universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education during the tenure of the 10th National Assembly.
However, amidst these proposals, the Academic Staff Union of Universities and other experts cautioned the government against creating new institutions without adequately funding the existing ones.
Official data from various bodies disclosed Nigeria’s educational landscape, which includes a total of 52 federal universities, 63 state universities, and 147 private universities.
The National Board for Technical Education reported 40 federal, 49 state-owned, and 76 private polytechnics.
Additionally, there are 70 federal and state-owned colleges of health, along with 17 private colleges of health.
The National Commission for Colleges of Education listed 219 colleges of education across the country.
Further scrutiny of the bills revealed the House Speaker as the leading proponent, advocating for the establishment of the Federal University of Technology in Kaduna.
Similarly, the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, pushed for the establishment of the Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences in Bende, Abia State.
Various bills also sought the creation of institutions such as the Federal University of Information and Communications Technology in Lagos Island, Federal University of Agriculture in Ute Okpa, Delta State, Federal University of Biomedical Sciences in Benue State, among others.
Expressing concerns about these legislative moves, the Chairman of ASUU at the Federal University of Minna, Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, criticized the lawmakers, deeming their focus on establishing new institutions as misplaced priorities.
He said, “Misplaced priority. You have institutions that are trying to stay afloat yet the only thing you can think of is to create more institutions so that your people would think you are working. They should concentrate more on projects that would impact the lives of their constituents instead of creating more problems for the nation.”
Also speaking with our correspondent, the Programme Director, Reform Education Nigeria, Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, said the lawmakers were merely trying to score political goals.
Oluwatoyin said, “It is so unfortunate that we live in a country where lawmakers use matters like education to score cheap political goals. This is unheard of in any part of the world. How will you propose bills for new institutions when the existing ones have been shut down? Who advises them.”
