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Tag: NUC

  • 149 private varsities undersubscribed, says NUC

    149 private varsities undersubscribed, says NUC

    The National Universities Commission(NUC) has said less than 10 percent of the two million students in Nigerian universities are enrolled in private universities.

    According to the commission, there are 149 private varsities in the country.

    The Acting Executive Secretary, NUC, Chris Maiyaki, made this known at the British Council Workshop on Enhancing Curriculum and Pedagogical Approaches in Nigerian Universities in Abuja.

    He said: “If you look at the population bracket of Nigeria, Nigeria is the only country that is highly undersubscribed, with 200 million people, and we only have today 272 universities: 61 are federal – public funded, 63 are owned by state governments, and 149 are owned by private individuals.

    “There are over two million students in Nigerian universities and only 10 per cent of the two million are in private universities.”

    The NUC boss emphasised the need for continuous curriculum reform to enable them to adapt in a fast-changing world.

    Maiyaki noted that initiating such reforms comes with challenges, adding that  sometimes curriculum renewal was hampered due to challenges of implementation.

    He said: “It is gratifying to note that this workshop is coming on the heels of the implementation of the recently-developed Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards in line with the commission’s enabling laws.”

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    Continuous curriculum reform has been considered a necessary measure to assist schools respond to a fast-changing world.

    Initiating such reforms is not without challenges, as sometimes, the actualisation of the curriculum renewal is not fully realised due to the challenges of implementation.

    Director of Programmes, British Council, Chikodi Onyemerela said there was a need to change from a traditional approach of teaching and learning to digital literacy in solving problems.

    Onyemerela said: “NUC has since introduced the CCMAS which emphasises the cultivation of critical thinking, digital literacy, problem solving, and entrepreneurial skills among graduates, and this is imperative for our educational institutions to adopt accordingly.

    “We must acknowledge the hurdles that lie ahead of the traditional approach to teaching and learning, which has long been entrenched in our university system and not easily overturned. To  change this, it will require concerted efforts from each of us to challenge the status quo.”

  • Why illegal degree-awarding institutions multiply, by NUC

    Why illegal degree-awarding institutions multiply, by NUC

    The National Universities Commission (NUC) has blamed the proliferation of illegal degree awarding institutions on some parents.

    The commission said they place a premium on university certification over other considertions.

    NUC’s Acting Executive Secretary Chris Maiyaki said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja.

    The NUC boss stressed that unaccredited degree-awarding institutions and satellite campuses remained banned in the country.

    He advised parents to thoroughly scrutinise institutions before sending their wards to acquire certificates there.

    “Everybody is right to pursue university education, but how you go about it is the crux of the matter.

    “The challenge of access, the huge gap between supply and demand makes parents desperate about getting university education for their children. This makes them vulnerable to greedy and fraudulent persons with commercial undertone,” he said.

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    Maiyaki said a committee had been set up to stamp out illegal institutions across the country.

    “When we were challenged by this menace of our satellite campuses, the NUC in Year 2000, undertook resource assessment of all outreach centres and we came up with the state of affairs of satellite campuses.

    “We wrote to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and it was so gracious and there was a total ban on satellite campuses at that time.

    “We took a step further at the NUC and shut down these centres. So, satellite campuses remain banned and outlawed.

    “We established a committee on the closure of illegal universities and we mandated it to identify, locate and prosecute those perpetrating illegalities and we also do this in a multi-stakeholders’ collaboration involving security agencies,” he said.

    Maiyaki also said a committee was reconstituted in 2021 to identify and prosecute operators of illegal institutions, stressing that the effort recorded a huge success.

  • NUC debunks report of 100 fake professors in Nigerian varsities

    NUC debunks report of 100 fake professors in Nigerian varsities

    The National Universities Commission (NUC) yesterday debunked the reports that it uncovered 100 fake professors in some universities across the country.

    In a statement by its acting Executive Secretary, Chris Maiyaki, the commission said though it initiated a verification process in 2019 for academics in the nation’s universities, at no point did it release a list of fake professors in 2024.

    The statement reads: “The attention of the commission has been drawn to news items, circulating on the social media, some national dailies and television stations, to the effect that the commission has just ‘discovered over 100 fake professors in Nigerian universities’.

    “The NUC wishes to deny these media reports categorically and unequivocally. They are fake, untrue, and a figment of the imagination of the author(s).

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    “All (this is) happening at an unsuitable time, when the nation is awaiting the outcome of the investigation into the fake certificate saga from universities in some neighbouring countries.

    “The commission, therefore, finds this development as unfair to all stakeholders.”

    It added: “The commission wishes to use this medium to advise Government officials at all levels, members of the NUS, the international community, and the public, to please disregard these items of fake and stale news which have long been laid to rest in 2019. All information concerning the role of the NUC in the regulation of the NUS can be found on our official website www.nuc.edu.ng. Further enquiries can also be made via the Commission’s official email address: info@nuc.edu.ng.”

  • NUC denies report of 100 fake professors in Nigerian varsities

    NUC denies report of 100 fake professors in Nigerian varsities

    The National Universities Commission (NUC) on Monday, January 8, denied reports that it uncovered a total of 100 fake professors in some universities across the country.

    In a statement on Monday by the Acting Executive Secretary, NUC, Chris Maiyaki, the commission said though it initiated a verification process in 2019 for academics in Nigerian universities, at no point did it release a list of fake professors in 2024.

    The statement said: “The attention of the National Universities Commission (NUC) has been drawn to news items, circulating on social media, some national dailies and television stations, to the effect that the Commission has just ‘discovered over 100 fake Professors in Nigerian Universities.’

    “The NUC wishes to deny these media reports categorically and unequivocally. They are fake, untrue, and a figment of the imagination of the author(s), all happening at an unsuitable time, when the nation is awaiting the outcome of the investigation into the fake certificate saga from universities in some neighbouring countries. The Commission therefore finds this development as unfair to all stakeholders.

    “Specifically, the fake news items have been circulating in two forms – (i) as a link to a 2019 online news item; and (ii) as a separate list of names of the alleged fake Professors in various Nigerian Universities, which was not the case. We consider these unfounded publications as ill-conceived and a ploy by unscrupulous persons to create in plausible a tone, disquiet, panic and provoking outcries at both the national and international levels. 

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission can confirm that it initiated in 2019 a laudable project, with the intent of compiling and publishing a list of full Professors in the Nigerian Universities System (NUS) through the use of an online portal to collate the requisite data. During the exercise, the NUC found anomalies, such as Associate Professors being listed as full Professors.

    Read Also: NUC lists 58 illegal degree-awarding varsities in Nigeria

    “It is essential to also state clearly that the Commission as a responsible Federal Government Agency, does not engage in half-baked exercises capable of tarnishing the image of Nigeria and the NUS. That was why the Commission deemed it necessary to share the collated data with the Nigerian Universities for the purpose of authentication by the competent authourities as to who qualifies to be a full professor.

    It further stated: “Based on the verified data, the Commission then in a landmark accomplishment, first published the list of full Professors who participated in the exercise in 2019. It was understood that this would be succeeded by a continuous process of updating the list of full Professors. It is important to state at this point that all the issues pertaining to the 2019 verification of full Professors in Nigerian Universities were concluded in 2019. Since then, the Commission has entrenched a more reliable system of generating the list of full Professors in the NUS.

    “The Commission is also conscious of the fact that some of the academics not captured in the 2019 exercise may now have matured and progressed to become full Professors; this being the reason why it continuously updates the list of full Professors in the NUS.

    “The National Universities Commission questions the rationale behind recycling this stale 2019 news of an activity it initiated, conducted and laid to rest in the same year. The purpose and objective of resurrecting in 2024 (more than 4 years later) this-no-longer-fresh news, is clearly intended to generate unnecessary controversy at an unsuitable time, whilst lacing it with a false list of fake Professors.

    “The National Universities Commission owes it a solemn duty to protect and guard the integrity of the many hardworking and committed academics in the NUS, who have earned national and international respect and recognition. Therefore, the Commission has been saddled with the vital and strategic responsibility by its enabling laws, to uphold the sanctity of quality in all aspects of our University Education delivery.

    “The Commission wishes to use this medium to advise Government officials at all levels, members of the NUS, the international community, and the public, to please disregard these items of fake and stale news which have long been laid to rest in 2019. All information concerning the role of the NUC in the regulation of the NUS can be found on our official website www.nuc.edu.ng. Further enquiries can also be made via the Commission’s official email address: info@nuc.edu.ng.”

  • NUC dismisses report of fake professors in universities

    NUC dismisses report of fake professors in universities

    The National Universities Commission (NUC) has dismissed reports of fake professors in Nigerian Universities.

    The commission said this in a statement by the commission’s Acting Executive Secretary, Chris Maiyaki in Abuja on Monday.

    He described the report  titled, “About 100 fake professors just uncovered in Nigerian universities – NUC’, as a figment of imagination of the author(s).

    Maiyaki also described the publications as ill-conceived and a ploy by unscrupulous persons to create in plausible a tone, disquiet, panic and provoking outcries at both the national and international levels.

    “The attention of the commission has been drawn to news items, circulating on the social media, some national dailies and television stations, to the effect that the Commission has just “discovered over 100 fake Professors in Nigerian Universities”.

    “The NUC wishes to deny these media reports categorically and unequivocally. They are fake, untrue and a figment of the imagination of the author(s).

    “All happening at an unsuitable time, when the nation is awaiting the outcome of the investigation into the fake certificate saga from universities in some neighbouring countries.

    “The Commission therefore finds this development as unfair to all stakeholders,’’ he said.

    Maiyaki explained that the fake news items had been circulating in two forms- as a link to a 2019 online news item and as a separate list of names of the alleged fake Professors in various Nigerian Universities, which he said was not the case.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission initiated in 2019 a laudable project.

    “This is with the intent of compiling and publishing a list of full Professors in the Nigerian Universities System (NUS) through the use of an online portal to collate the requisite data.

    “During the exercise, the NUC found anomalies, such as Associate Professors being listed as full Professors.

    “It is essential to also state clearly that the Commission as a responsible Federal Government Agency, does not engage in half-baked exercises capable of tarnishing the image of Nigeria and the NUS.

    “That was why the Commission deemed it necessary to share the collated data with the Nigerian Universities for the purpose of authentication by the competent authorities as to who qualifies to be a full professor,’’ he said.

    According to him, based on the verified data, the Commission then in a landmark accomplishment, first published the list of full Professors who participated in the exercise in 2019.

    He added that it was understood that this would be succeeded by a continuous process of updating the list of full Professors.

    “It is important to state at this point that all the issues pertaining to the 2019 verification of full Professors in Nigerian Universities were concluded in 2019.

    “Since then, the Commission has entrenched a more reliable system of generating the list of full Professors in the NUS.

    “The Commission is also conscious of the fact that some of the academics not captured in the 2019 exercise may now have matured and progressed to become full Professors.

    “This being the reason why it continuously updates the list of full Professors in the NUS,’’ he added.

    The acting executive secretary, however, questions the rationale behind recycling this stale 2019 news of an activity it initiated, conducted and laid to rest in the same year.

    Read Also: NUC lists 58 illegal degree-awarding varsities in Nigeria

    “The purpose and objective of resurrecting in 2024 (more than four years later) this-no-longer-fresh news, is clearly intended to generate unnecessary controversy.

    “The Commission owes it a solemn duty to protect and guard the integrity of the many hardworking and committed academics in the NUS, who have earned national and international respect and recognition.

    “Therefore, the Commission has been saddled with the vital and strategic responsibility by its enabling laws, to uphold the sanctity of quality in all aspects of our University Education delivery.

    “The Commission wishes to use this medium to advise government officials at all levels, members of the NUS, the international community, and the public, to please disregard these items of fake and stale news,’’ he said.

    (NAN)

  • Nigerians with Togo, Benin certificates couldn’t pass JAMB – Ex-NUC secretary

    Nigerians with Togo, Benin certificates couldn’t pass JAMB – Ex-NUC secretary

    A former Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Suleiman Ramon-Yusuf, has said all those people with Togo and Benin certificates are clear-headed crooks who knew what they paid for.

    He said that some of those individuals are incapable of passing the UTME, while others do not possess the required five O-level credits.

    He also accused Francophone West African countries of benefitting from issuing dubious degrees to Nigerians.

    The Nation on Tuesday reported that the Federal Government suspended accreditation of degree certificates from Benin, Togo varsities.

    Ramon-Yusuf, said this when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday.

    The suspension followed an investigative report by an online newspaper, which unravelled a Cotonou-based University, which issued a degree certificate to an undercover Journalist within six weeks.

    The ex-NUC Secretary said: “Many of these francophone countries have benefited so much from the dubious degrees they give to Nigerians and that is why Africa cannot achieve the same level of mobility that people enjoy in Europe under the Erasmus programme.”

    According to him, Africa started the mobility and mutual recognition of certificates before the Europeans but has not made progress because of the education corruption in francophone countries.

    He maintained that Nigerians with questionable certificates from francophone countries are not victims, adding that they took that option because they find it difficult to get admitted to Nigerian universities.

    He stated: “There is no victim, all those people with these certificates are clear-headed crooks who knew what they were paying for because some of them are people who cannot pass the UTME, and some do not have five O-level credits. So they go shopping for these bogus institutions where they get their bogus qualifications from.”

    Read Also: NUC approves 41 courses for new Niger State University of Education

    Ramon-Yusuf added that the Nigerian government needs to do more than suspend the certificates from these two countries, as this is not the first time the issue has come up.

    He added: “We need to do more than that because this is not the first time this matter is coming to the fore. Now, we need to do something different. Many of these francophone countries don’t have national quality assurance agencies.”

    He also called for the inclusion of the NUC in the committee being put together by the Federal Government to look into the matter as that was the statutory agency responsible for the quality assurance of university education in Nigeria.

  • NUC approves 41 courses for new Niger State University of Education

    NUC approves 41 courses for new Niger State University of Education

    The National University Commission (NUC) has approved 41 full-time courses in four faculties for the take-off of the Niger State University of Education for the 2023/2024 academic session.

    This was contained in a letter addressed to the Vice Chancellor of the State University of Education signed by the acting Director of Academic Planning, Abubakar Girei dated 20th December 2023.

    The approvals are following a resource verification visit carried out by panels of experts to the proposed academic programme in the State University of Education to assess the human and material resources available.

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    “I am directed to inform the Vice Chancellor that the Ag. Executive Secretary has considered and approved the establishment of the full-time mode of the following undergraduate programmes, to be run in the main campus of the university with effect from the 2023/2024 academic session.”

    The faculties include Science Education, Education, Vocational and Technical Education, and Arts and Social Sciences Education.

    Briefing newsmen about the development, the Chairman of the Implementation Committee, Professor Mohammed Kuta Yahaya said the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has approved the listing of the State University of Education in the 2024/2025 academic session.

    Yahaya said that there is an ongoing thorough assessment of the present facilities to identify gaps and areas of upgrade and improvement adding that work is being done to improve some basic learning facilities in some of the lecture theatres and address the inadequate seating provisions in the present central library.

  • Numbers are not everything   

    Numbers are not everything   

    Less than six months after the inauguration of Nigeria’s 10th National Assembly, on June 13, no fewer than 32 bills have been presented in the Senate and the House of Representatives for the creation of new universities, polytechnics, colleges of health and colleges of education, according to a recent report.

     The information is food for thought. The number of higher education institutions proposed within the period suggests a dearth of such institutions in the country, and an urgent need to address the shortage. But numbers are not everything.    

    According to the National Universities Commission (NUC), Nigeria has 52 federal universities, 63 state universities and 147 private universities. Figures from the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) indicate that there are 40 federal polytechnics, 49 state-owned polytechnics and 76 private polytechnics in the country. There are 70 federal and state-owned colleges of health, and 17 private colleges of health.  As for the colleges of education in the country, the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) states that there are 219.

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    Notably, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, and the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, were reported to be among the proposers of new tertiary institutions. Abbas was said to have proposed the founding of the Federal University of Technology, Kaduna, while Kalu was said to have proposed the establishment of the Federal University of Medical and Health Sciences, Bende, Abia State.

    They want these proposed institutions sited in their constituencies, which gives their proposals a curious colouration. This raises the question: What inspired their proposals?

    The same question can be asked concerning the other bills seeking the creation of new tertiary institutions, including Federal University of Information and Communications Technology, Lagos State; Federal University of Agriculture, Ute Okpa, Delta State; Federal University of Biomedical Sciences, Benue State; Federal College of Health Sciences, Gaya, Kano State; and Federal College of Dental Technology, Faggae, Kano State.

    There are also bills to create Federal College of Agriculture, Agila, Benue State; Federal College of Education, Dangi-Kanam, Plateau State; Federal College of Education, Bende, Abia State; Benjamin Kalu Federal Polytechnic, Rano, Kano State; and Federal Polytechnic, Shendam, Plateau State, among others.

    The proposers should think beyond just increasing the number of such institutions, and focus on improving the existing tertiary institutions.  

    Alarming reports show that many universities in the country, and indeed many other tertiary institutions, are facing severe and debilitating shortage of qualified teaching personnel, particularly as a result of their continuing exodus in search of greener pastures abroad, among other factors.   

     The numerous bills to establish new tertiary institutions reflect poor legislative thinking. The legislators should address the serious problems of the existing institutions, rather than thinking of creating new ones that would likely face the same problems to the detriment of tertiary education in the country.      

  • NUC upgrades Niger CoE to varsity

    NUC upgrades Niger CoE to varsity

    Acting Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Chris Maiyaki, has approved the upgrade of Niger State College of Education in Minna to University of Education.

    Maiyaki announced this when Governor Mohammed Bago visited the headquarters of the commission yesterday in Abuja.

    The NUC boss said the institution initially secured conditional recognition as a university of education in 2013, but successive administrations in the state could not meet the conditions until Bago assumed office.

    He noted that with the new development, the Niger State University of Education is now fully recognised as the 63rd state-owned university in Nigeria.

    Maiyaki said the new university was approved following the presentation of relevant documents, including the university’s gazetted law, academic brief, and a master plan.

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    The NUC boss added that the recognition took effect from yesterday.

    According to him, other relevant government agencies, like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), would be informed of the new status of the institution.

    Maiyaki urged the governor to upgrade the facilities in the new university, saying the NUC was ready to provide the necessary guidance to ensure the institution lives up to expectations.

    Bago assured the NUC that funding would not be a problem to the new institution with the coming into force of an Education Trust Fund law in the state.

    He said: “Niger State just passed a law on Education Trust Fund. Every contract of government, every transaction within the state, is charged one per cent for the education fund.”

  • Varsities to begin implementation of new curriculum next month, says NUC

    Varsities to begin implementation of new curriculum next month, says NUC

    The implementation of the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards CCMAS (CCMAS) will begin  next month, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has said.

    The commission said the new CCMAS document would guide institutions in the design of curricula for their programmes while bringing necessary innovation into the content and delivery of their programmes towards achieving the overall goals of education and training.

    It stated that the implementation will help sharpen the future of the education sector.

    Acting Executive Secretary of NUC, Chris Maiyaki, who disclosed this at a Stakeholders’ Colloquium on CCMAS in Abuja on Wednesday, said the document would reposition Nigerian universities to be among the best rated in Africa.

    The NUC chief said the CCMAS would make up 70 per cent of the curriculum while the universities would decide on what to include in the remaining 30 per cent.

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    Maiyaki said: “The role and development of the CCMAS is to ensure commitment in advancing our education and our great nation. NUC is primarily dedicated to ensuring quality and global competitiveness of Nigerian universities as well as the graduates we produce.

    “The development of the CCMAS went through a painstaking process by bringing experts from our universities comprising professors, regulatory bodies, Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and all stakeholders.

    “The CCMAS reflect global initiative that will equip graduates with knowledge and wherewithal that will advance the development of the nation.”

    Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, encouraged universities to make optimal use of the 30 per cent university senate’s input.

    He advised universities to ensure that learning outcomes, skills as well as soft skills were acquired, irrespective of the core discipline.

    The minister said the skills must be readily applicable to the environment of the university, the country in particular and the global community in general.

    He said: “There is no better place and time than now to develop a strategy that will guide tertiary institutions particularly universities in their mandate to provide appropriate manpower for the country.

    “This is through using a curriculum and applying minimum standards that would guarantee we teach our students in such a way and manner that they would be highly skilled and employable to contribute to national development efforts.

    “Seventy per cent of the total curriculum is captured in the CCMAS while 30 per cent of the curriculum has been ceded to universities Senates to build in the uniqueness of their various universities.

    “This principle allows for a good deal of adaptation that suits not only local peculiarities of the universities but provides universities opportunities to carve a niche for themselves in areas of comparative advantage.”

    Mamman lauded universities which had concluded work on the 30 per cent component and submitted the same for a review.

    He urged those who have not concluded work on their 30 per cent to endeavour to do so in the shortest possible time as the next academic session rolls in.

    The minister e pledged the commitment of the Federal Government in ensuring that the education system remained nationally relevant and globally competitive.

    Former Vice – Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Michael Faborode said the idea of the CCMAS was to promote diversification and differentiation in the system.

    This, he said, was to provide proper conceptual administrative guidelines and a harmonised legal framework for higher education.

    Faborode commended the over 70 per cent universities that had already complied with the uploading of their 30 per cent curriculum inputs into the CCMAS.

    He said this was the way to go so that universities could be globally relevant and competitive and as well provide the educational needs to the students so they could be employable after graduation.

    The CCMAS was developed in 2018 following the review of the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) -the curriculum guide for Nigerian universities, which had been in use since 2007.

    The CCMAS also expanded BMAS from 12 to 17 disciplines to reposition the system to reflect the realities of the 21st century.

    The 17 disciplines are: Administration and Management, Agriculture, Allied Health Sciences, Architecture, Arts, Basic Medical Sciences, Communication and Media Studies, Computing and Education.

    Others are Engineering and Technology, Environmental Sciences, Law, Medicine and Dentistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sciences , Social Sciences and Veterinary Medicine.