The Federal Government has imposed a seven-year moratorium on the creation of new federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education across Nigeria.
The decision, reached at Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, is aimed at halting what officials describe as the “reckless proliferation” of tertiary institutions while existing ones struggle with low enrolment and poor infrastructure.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, told journalists that Nigeria already has 72 federal universities, 42 polytechnics, and 28 colleges of education, in addition to numerous state-owned and private institutions. Despite this, hundreds of schools are operating below capacity.
“In the 2024/2025 academic session, 199 universities had fewer than 100 JAMB applicants, and 34 recorded zero applications,” Alausa revealed. “We have a federal university with fewer than 800 students but over 1,200 staff — this is unsustainable.”
He added that 295 polytechnics had under 100 applicants each, while 64 colleges of education had none at all. The minister said the government will now focus on upgrading decaying infrastructure, recruiting and training qualified lecturers, and expanding the capacity of existing schools rather than “building prestige projects with empty classrooms.”
Alausa noted that some federal universities in the North have fewer than 2,000 students despite receiving billions in annual funding. The ban, he said, is part of President Tinubu’s push to ensure Nigerian graduates meet global standards.
The move aligns with long-standing criticisms from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which has repeatedly condemned the indiscriminate establishment of new institutions.
ASUU recently warned of a possible nationwide strike, accusing the government of neglecting existing universities and failing to honour past agreements. The union’s president, Prof. Chris Piwuna, painted a bleak picture of lecturers “teaching on empty stomachs” and conducting research without essential journals, books, or laboratory materials.
“Yet, elites blame universities for producing unemployable graduates,” ASUU stated. “Our members feel abandoned, demoralised, and shamed by successive governments.”
