Afe Babalola: Mass licensing of substandard varsities compromising NUC’s regulatory powers

Afe Babalola, prominent legal figure, has cautioned the federal government against what he describes as the indiscriminate approval of licences for new universities.

On Monday, the lawyer was at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) in Ekiti state, where he addressed a workshop.

Babalola, who is also the founder of ABUAD, argued that granting approvals without due consideration for quality and infrastructure would negatively impact Nigeria’s future.

He compared the current situation with the tenure of Peter Okebukola, a one-time executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC).

The lawyer claimed that during Okebukola’s tenure, the approval process was rigorous, particularly for medicine, engineering, and law programmes in new institutions.

Babalola accused NUC of approving “substandard universities”, a situation he claimed has compromised quality control.

“But what do we have today? Mass approval of mushroom and substandard universities, with some lacking even the basic learning facilities and infrastructure,” he said.

“As a result of this anything goes syndrome, the approach to university licensing and accreditation, NUC’s ability to ensure quality control, and to stamp out substandard institutions, has been seriously compromised.”

Babalola noted that Nigeria has over 270 universities, with proposals for an additional 200 under consideration by the national assembly.

He warned that the focus appeared to be on quantity over quality, leading to a decline in the educational system and the quality of graduates.

The lawyer stressed that “poor education is worse than illiteracy” and called for a thorough process for approving university licenses to advance sustainable development through research.