The Federal Government has granted operational licences to nine new private universities across Nigeria, marking a significant step in expanding access to higher education in the country.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed the approvals on Wednesday while briefing journalists after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu.
Alausa revealed that the move follows a comprehensive review of 551 applications for new tertiary institutions, some of which had been pending for over six years. “We inherited a backlog of applications for new universities. After careful scrutiny, we streamlined the list to 79 active cases, and today, nine of them have been approved,” he said.
The newly licensed universities and their locations are:
Tazkiyah University, Kaduna State
Leadership University, Abuja
Jimoh Babalola University, Kwara State
Bridget University, Mbaise, Imo State
Greenland University, Jigawa State
JEFAP University, Niger State
Azione Verde University, Imo State
Unique Open University, Lagos State
American Open University, Ogun State
The minister attributed the prolonged delays to inefficiencies within the National Universities Commission (NUC), noting that reforms have been implemented to speed up the licensing process.
“Due to inefficiencies within the NUC, approvals were delayed. We have since introduced reforms to streamline these processes, and today’s approvals are a result of clearing this backlog,” he explained.
According to Alausa, many of the newly approved institutions already have campuses in place and have invested billions of naira in infrastructure while awaiting the federal green light.
He added that the expansion of private universities is part of the administration’s broader strategy to improve access to quality education, accommodate the growing number of tertiary students, and reduce pressure on public universities.
