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The Nigerian government has imposed a six-year ban on the establishment of universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) announced on Wednesday.
At the same meeting, presided over by President Bola Tinubu, the council also restored the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education (NMEC) to full independent status.
Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, told State House correspondents that the temporary freeze on new tertiary institutions is aimed at improving quality and ensuring sustainability across existing institutions.
“Today, access is not easy in the country. We have lots of tertiary institutions, both public and private. We need to help these private institutions be sustainable financially,” Alausa said.
He stated data from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), noting that over 2.3 million candidates applied for admission last year, while fewer than 228,000 secured placements in public universities.
Alausa also talked about Nigeria’s literacy challenge, explaining that Tinubu granted full independence to NMEC after its chairman presented an “expansive agenda to educate over 50 million young adults in the next two to three years and to make them digitally literate”.
“Today, we have about 56 million Nigerians that are illiterate. We can’t continue to have a high number of citizens that are illiterate,” he said.
The minister added that the commission will intensify outreach in rural areas through radio, television, public advocacy, and community-based learning centres.
The FEC also approved amendments to the National Postgraduate Medical College Act, recognising medical fellowships as equivalent to a PhD for academic progression, and granted comprehensive insurance coverage for the 180 federal unity schools nationwide, Aausa disclosed.
NMEC was established under Decree No. 17 of 1990 (later codified as Act No. 18 of 2004) to design and implement strategies to combat illiteracy, collaborating with federal, state, and local governments, and other non-governmental organisations.
In 2025, the National Universities Commission (NUC) approved 33 new universities across the country, bringing the total number to 309.
