As the number of Nigerian universities climbs to 272, the executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Chris Maiyaki, has warned against charging fees in dollars.
The NUC chief who gave the warning at an interactive session with the press in Abuja yesterday, said the commission would be licensing two additional universities soon.
Nigeria currently has 270 universities, 52 federal, 63 states and 147 private universities respectively, which are regulated by the NUC.
He said with a population of over 200 million people there is a need to expand access for the Nigerian students.
On the dollarisation of the economy, he warned private universities and other higher learning in Nigeria against charging school fees in dollars or those to do so to desist from it
”No Nigerian university is allowed to charge fees in dollars,“ he said.
Maiyaki also said Nigerian universities are underfunded due to some factors, urging higher institutions of learning to establish internationalization centres to advance development.
On the call by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), condemning the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) which was initiated to meet the evolving demands of the century, he said the commission had involved all the relevant stakeholders before coming out with the curriculum.
“Constantly, we are being in touch with the academia on this and we want to say that the CCMAS is a product of the involvement of all stakeholders and there is no return. The CCMAS has been activated and there is no turning back,“ he said.
Most universities, he said, have already swung into action and the Commission is getting a positive result, saying that it‘s excited to see a new set of graduates as a result of the CCMAS.
