Bill for 47 new universities advances to second reading
A bill to create 47 new federal universities in Nigeria has passed the second reading, which could increase the total number of federal universities to 99 in the near future.
Meanwhile, the House is also considering 56 bills to set up Federal Medical Centres across the country.
According to The DWORLDGIST, Nigeria currently has 52 federal universities, with some states having more than one.
The House is also looking into various bills to establish 32 Federal Colleges of Education, 11 Federal Colleges of Agriculture and five Federal Polytechnics, in addition to the existing ones.
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Nigeria also has 22 federal medical centres, 27 federal colleges of education and 40 polytechnics.
Some of the bills were either not approved by the Senate or the President in the 9th Assembly.
Some of the proposed institutions will be Universities of Science and Technology, Agriculture, Aviation, Medicals, and Engineering, among others.
The House order paper shows that the House is also reviewing various bills to establish Colleges of Vocational and Skill Acquisition, Cancer Research and Entrepreneurship.
For instance, Lagos State has requested for three new Federal Medical Centres, besides the one it already has.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, said on December 30, 2023, that the House received and considered 962 bills, 500 motions, and 153 petitions in six months.
The member representing Zaria Federal Constituency, Kaduna State, said that out of the bills, 120 have passed the second reading and are being reviewed for further legislative actions.
The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said last year that one of the reasons for the decline in tertiary education quality in the country was the establishment of universities without a funding plan.
He said this while giving a paper at the 14th Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture, titled “State of tertiary education in Nigeria: Identifying historical issues and misconceptions, contemplating solutions”, organised by the National Association of Seadogs in Benin.
The ASUU president also said that the way the government appoints and recruits staff for state-owned universities was also a problem.
Osedeke said, “One of the major problems facing the tertiary institution is the establishment of universities without template for funding. The method of appointment and recruitment into state-owned universities by the government has also been a problem.’’
The Port Harcourt Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Stanley Ogoun, also called for the urgent amendment of the National Universities’ Commission Act last month to prevent governors from creating new universities without adequate funding.
The union said governors were using the establishment of tertiary institutions as constituency projects at the expense of existing ones.