Education
NUC presents provisional licences to 12 new private universities
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has presented provisional licences to 12 new private universities in Nigeria.
The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, presented the licences to each proprietor of the universities in Abuja on Thursday.
The universities include Al-Ansar University, Maiduguri; the Pen Resource University, Gombe; Margaret Lawrence University Galilee, Delta; and Khalifa Isiyaku Rabiu University, Kano.
Others are Sports University, Idumuje, Delta; Bab Ahmed University, Kano; Saisa University of Medical Sciences and Technology, Sokoto; and the Nigerian British University, Asa, Abia.
The rest are Peter University, Achina/Onneh, Anambra; Newgate University, Minna; European University of Nigeria, Duboyi, FCT; and Northwest University, Sokoto, Sokoto State.
Speaking at the event, the minister said while the number of the new universities may seem large, there was the need to establish more universities in the country,
“Government is also well aware of the need to improve the country’s Human Development Index ranking, knowing that countries that are consistently well-ranked in human development indices have maintained a respectable number of universities relative to their population.
“In the 2020 UN Human Development index, Nigeria dropped three places to 161 out of 189 countries and territories. These are some of the matters we aim to address.
“As usual the provisional approval for these universities to operate is intended to create room for effective mentoring and qualitative growth within the first three years of operation,” Adamu said.
He said the universities would be affiliated to older generation universities for academic and administrative mentoring which would be moderated by the NUC.
He urged the proprietors to sustain funding towards improving infrastructure, equipment for teaching and learning as well as human resources to earn the universities accreditation by NUC.
Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, the Executive Secretary NUC, commended the proprietors of the new universities.
He said private universities bring uniqueness to the Nigerian university landscape.
“The NUC has embarked on a radical re-engineering of the curricula in the Nigerian universities to meet global standards and international best practices toward preparing Nigerian graduates for relevance in world economy.
“The Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) has been revised to Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) by NUC along with the programme’s best experts and industry stakeholders.
“The CCMAS, which will soon be unveiled to the public, provides 70 per cent of what should be taught along with the expected outcomes, while universities will provide 30 per cent based on their individual contextual peculiarities and characteristics.
“The establishment of more private universities under the strict supervision of NUC is an antidote to the proliferation of illegal source of worry and embarrassment to the nation and a menace to quality university education delivery.’’
Rasheed therefore enjoined the proprietors to acquaint themselves with the code of governance for private universities which aimed to enhance successful running and sustainability of the institutions.
Prof. Julius Okojie, a former Executive Secretary of NUC, in his remarks said: “Universities bring development, if we must have qualitative universities education, private universities must be encouraged.’’
According to him, unless there is the creation of new states new state universities cannot be created and government is hard pressed in terms of political will and funds to establish more universities.
“Universities bring development and the future of development in this country resides with the universities.
“Go to any state in this country, the establishment of universities bring about an increase in economics activities, new buildings coming up for students accommodation, okada riders for transportation, etc.”
He said countries with huge populations have good number of universities to cushion their educational needs, therefore, called for support for those that want to establish private universities.
He said private universities make room for innovative and qualitative education.
Dr Muhammed Dikwa, the Proprietor of Al-Ansar University, Maiduguri, Borno, speaking on behalf of the proprietors assured the NUC that the newly licenced universities would observe all the guidelines set out by the NUC and ensure that qualitative education was not compromised.
It was gathered that the National Executive Council (NEC) approved the establishment of the universities on April 6, and there are now a total of 111 private universities in the country.
(NAN)
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has commenced the disbursement of upkeep payments to students who successfully updated their bank account details from digital wallets to commercial bank accounts.
This was announced in a statement released on Friday in Abuja by the Director of Strategic Communications of the Fund, Mrs. Oseyemi Oluwatuyi.
Oluwatuyi described the development as a significant breakthrough in addressing earlier disbursement delays.
“Over 3,600 students, who previously registered with digital-only banking platforms, have now successfully received their backlog of upkeep payments after updating their details to conventional commercial bank accounts on the NELFUND portal,” she stated.
“We appreciate the patience and understanding of all affected students during this period. Your resilience and cooperation have made this progress possible,” she added.
The NELFUND spokesperson advised students who have yet to update their bank details to raise a support ticket via the official NELFUND portal to request access for the update.
She further urged affected students to report through the IT office of their respective institutions, which would compile and forward all related cases to NELFUND for prompt resolution.
“NELFUND remains committed to ensuring that no eligible student is left behind. This resolution process is part of our broader effort to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and student-centered delivery of our support services,” she said.
Oluwatuyi encouraged students to continue engaging only through official NELFUND channels and to assist their peers who may need help navigating the update process.
She also provided contact options for inquiries, stating that the fund can be reached via email at info@nelf.gov.ng or through its official social media handles: X (formerly Twitter) @nelfund; Instagram @nelfund; and Facebook & LinkedIn: Nigerian Education Loan Fund – NELFUND.
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has issued a directive to all accredited tertiary institutions to verify and upload their students’ data on the newly digitised Student Loan Application System (SLAS).
This was disclosed in a statement released in Abuja on Wednesday by the Director of Strategic Communications at NELFUND, Mrs Oseyemi Oluwatuyi.
According to Oluwatuyi, the SLAS platform has been fully digitised to streamline and accelerate the student loan processing experience for both institutions and applicants.
“With this upgrade, all accredited institutions are now required to request access to SLAS to verify and upload student data related to loan applications,” she said.
She described the move as “a critical step that ensures the timely processing and disbursement of approved student loans.”
Institutions that have not yet been onboarded onto the system, she said, are advised to send an access request to registration@nelf.gov.ng without delay.
“Once granted access, institutions will be able to view a real-time dashboard of their students’ loan applications, verify submitted data, and track the status of each application,” Oluwatuyi explained.
She called on all institutions to take immediate action in the interest of their students, stressing that verification and data upload by institutions are mandatory steps before final approval and disbursement of loans can be completed.
On the students’ side, Oluwatuyi noted that if an application status currently shows “Verified,” it means the application has passed initial checks. However, final approval and disbursement depend on the institutions’ confirmation and data upload.
“Once this process is completed, your status will be updated to ‘Disbursed’ when the payment of your fees has been processed,” she added.
She also encouraged students to reach out to the fund for assistance via email at info@nelf.gov.ng.
Other official communication channels include:
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X (formerly Twitter): @nelfund
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Instagram: @nelfund
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Facebook & LinkedIn: Nigerian Education Loan Fund – NELFUND
The National Universities Commission, (NUC), has given full accreditation to the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), for her Law programme.
According to the Public Relations Officer of ESUT, Mr Ikechukwu Ani, this is contained in a letter addressed to the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. Aloysius Okolie, on Wednesday in Enugu by the NUC.
Ani said that in the letter, the Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu said the report was contained in the result of the October/November 2024 accreditation of academic programmes in Nigerian universities.
Ani disclosed that other programmes in the institution accredited by the NUC include Master of Science in Business Management; Education Computer Science; Education Physics and Agricultural Engineering.
Other accredited programmes he said were Quantity Surveying; Urban and Regional Planning; and Applied Microbiology.
He said that the letter quoted Section 10 (1) of the Education National Minimum Standard and Establishment of Institutions, Act CAP E3, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 as empowering the NUC to lay down minimum academic standards for all academic programmes taught in Nigerian universities.
He said the session also empowers the NUC to accredit such programmes.
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