Federal government during an extraordinary session of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the licencing of 37 new universities in Nigeria.
The minister of education, Adamu Adamu, disclosed this to State House correspondents after the Extraordinary Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
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He said the new approval brings to 72 the total number of universities licenced by the Buhari administration since 2015.
The minister, however, did not name the universities, revealing that one of them is an online university, the first of its kind in Nigeria owned by a woman from Bauchi State.
According to him, it is expected that it will cater for the likes of northern Muslim women who feel reluctant or are restrained from attending physical campus education.
Asked if the additional universities were really expedient given the funding challenges of existing ones, Adamu explained that these ones are all private, with enough funds to run them and they should not be denied the opportunity to exist.
Besides, the minister said, “Nigeria actually needs more universities as the available ones are not adequate to take up all those aspiring for higher education.”