The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the issuance of provisional licences for the establishment of 12 private universities across the country.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the Council meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said the affected universities would be located in Kano, Niger, Gombe, Sokoto, Delta, Abia, Anambra and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
He said: “Council approved the memo for the issuance of provisional licences for the establishment of 12 proposed private universities.
“The proposed private universities are Pen Resource University Gombe, Gombe State, Al-Ansar University, Maiduguri, Borno State, Margaret Lawrence I -University, Delta State and Khalifa Ishaku Rabiu University Kano, Kano State.
“Sports University Idumuje Ugboko, Delta State, Bala Ahmed University Kano, Saisa University of Medical Sciences and Technology, Sokoto State, Nigerian-British University Hasa, Abia State and Peter University Acina-Onene, Anambra State as well as Newgate University, Minna, Niger State, the European University of Nigeria in Duboyi, Abuja and the North-West University Sokoto. ”
Mohammed said the Minister of State, Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba presented the memo on behalf of the National Universities Commission and it was approved by the cabinet.
According to him, each of the new universities will be mentored by the old universities nearer to them.
He argued that the establishment of additional universities for an over 200 million-populated country was necessary if the policy of educating a larger percentage of youngsters was to succeed.
