President Buhari Approves 37 New Universities

President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has granted approval of operation to no fewer than 37 new universities across the country.

The approval was granted at the emergency Federal Executive Council meeting which was presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, announced this after the extra-ordinary Council meeting on Monday.

Adamu said that latest development brings to 72 the total number of universities licensed by the Buhari administration since 2015.

Although the Minister did not name the universities, but revealed that one of them is an online university, the first of its kind in Nigeria, and owned by a woman from Bauchi State, with expectation that it will cater for the likes of northern Muslim women who feel reluctant or are restrained from attending physical campus education.

Meanwhile, this development is coming in spite of complaints of proliferation of universities in Nigeria which are mostly underfunded.

Responding to questions on the expediency of additional universities given funding challenges of the 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.

The Minister further explained that Nigeria actually needs more universities as the available ones are not adequate to take up all those yearning for higher education.