The National Universities Commission (NUC) weeked announced that it has so far uncovered 67 illegal universities, satellite campuses and centers operating across Nigeria.
NUC Executive Secretary, Prof Abubakar Rasheed, announced this at the 11th convocation ceremony of Al- Hikmah university Ilorin.
To this end, he said the commission was developing a new Benchmark Minimum Academic Standard (BMAS) for universities in the country which he said was almost ready.
Represented by a former vice chancellor of Bayero university Kano, Prof Yahuze Bello, the NUC boss said “as at today, the commission oversees 43, federal universities, 54 state and 99 private universities across Nigeria”.
However, he said despite the successes recorded by the commission in it’s supervisory and regulatory roles for universities, it had still had to contend with some challenges.
“These include undued intervention of profesional bodies with respect to the requirements for the benchmark minimum academic standard. At times , their specifications ,rules and regulations distort , contradict or outrightly violates extant academic procedures as stipulated by the NUC.
“Another toothing issue is the menace of illegal universities, satellite camapuses and centers , which at the last count ,stood at 67 in number. To worsen the matter, they all award certificates.
“The commission is taking concrete steps through inter -agencies collaboration to tackle the untoward development headlong especially by mass sensitisation of unsuspecting members patrons through periodic publication of list of such “Degree Mills,” he said.
Meanwhile, former vice chancellor, Ladoke Akintola university of Technology, Ogbomoso, Prof Adeniyi Sulaiman Gbadegesin, has warned that the alraming rate of unemployed youths from Nigerian formal institutions will hit about 67 million by the end of December this year.
Gbadegesin who delivered the 11th convocation lecture of the Al- Hikmah university, Ilorin titled, ” Enterpreneurial Education and Sustainable Human Development : A Priority for Nigerian Private Universities” advocated total overhaul of the nation’s curriculum which he described as long”outdated”.
The former university administrator who teaches Geography at the university of Ibadan, said unless private universities filled the gaps of lack of producing middle level manpower for the country, the alarming rates of unemployed youths may remain unabated. “Youth unemployment in Nigeria is a critical issue with massive implications on the nation’s economy.As at today, more than 25 million graduates from formal institutions are unemployed with more than 1.5 million graduates joining the labour market every year”, Gbadegesin said..
He said, “Using the indicies of high unemployment rate and low per capital income, a recent World Bank release listed Nigeria as one of the five poorest nations in the world
“Some of the factors that have been established as contributing to graduate unemployment in Nigeria include failure of higher education (universities and polytechnics) to train graduates as job givers than being job seekers ,high demand for university, faulty manpower planning, and low entrepreneurial knowledge and activities,” he added.
Vice chancellor of Al-Hikma universities, Professor Noah Yusuf, said as part of the institution’s resolved to produce self reliant graduates, the university authorities have made it mandatory for every undergraduate to take a course in entrepreneurship and also register thier company before graduation.
