Tinubu, slow down on creation of universities

I’ve been reading the news about the creation of a new federal university in Oyo State, recently signed into law by the president. Unsurprisingly, supporters of the administration have celebrated it as evidence of progress and commitment to education. However, nothing could be more illogical.

Creating new universities when existing ones are grossly underfunded is reckless and irrational. It is counterproductive and continues to undermine the country’s educational system. Like his predecessors, President Tinubu has trivialised university education by thoughtlessly creating new institutions or upgrading polytechnics and colleges of education into universities. This does not reflect thoughtful planning; it reflects political opportunism.

A government that has consistently failed to meet UNESCO’s recommended budget allocation for education should not be in the business of establishing new universities. These moves are not borne out of a genuine desire to improve education but are instead superficial attempts to score political points. This government’s lip service to education betrays its insincerity towards the survival and quality of public institutions.

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Tertiary education in Nigeria is already in crisis. Lecturers are fleeing the country in droves due to poor infrastructure, lack of research support, and unsatisfactory working conditions. The condition of student hostels mirrors prison camps, and the decay across campuses is shocking. These problems did not start with this administration, but the current leadership is compounding the crisis.

For instance, replacing TETFund’s support with the problematic NELFUND initiative is misguided. Public education from primary to tertiary level is in an embarrassing state. The government’s idea of solving the problem by expanding access; creating more universities to absorb more students is deeply flawed. The issue is not just access; it is sustainability and quality.

The challenges in Nigeria’s education system are systemic and require strategic reform; not surface-level expansion. The government must stop the establishment of new institutions and focus instead on properly funding, maintaining, and managing existing ones. We need universities that function; not just more universities on paper.

The prioritisation of establishing additional institutions in the face of decaying infrastructure is a clear misplacement of priorities. It reflects a lack of understanding or concern about the deeper issues plaguing education. Creating more institutions while existing ones are crumbling does not solve anything; it worsens the crisis. It fragments already limited resources and spreads administrative burdens even thinner.

It is disheartening that the National Assembly sees the creation of more universities as an achievement worth celebrating. This is short-sighted. A poorly funded university system will only worsen graduate unemployment and hamper national development. Our lawmakers should focus on reforms that would transform and consolidate existing institutions into world-class universities. That is how to make a meaningful impact not through political showboating.

A recent example illustrates this perfectly. Two videos of Senator Fatai Buhari, who sponsored the bill for the new university in Oke-Ogun, are trending online. In one, he appeals to voters to support Tinubu in exchange for the university’s approval. In another, he dances in celebration of its creation. This shows that the establishment of the university was more about political gain than genuine concern for educational development.

Worryingly, this trend is growing. Since the inauguration of the current National Assembly in June, 32 bills have been tabled at the House of Representatives proposing the establishment of new federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. This is absurd and unsustainable. The push to create new institutions has become a political tool treated like constituency projects rather than serious national development plans.

We must ask ourselves hard questions: Who is discussing funding? Who is talking about staffing, infrastructure, and sustainability? Without addressing these, the proliferation of institutions is an empty gesture.

If we truly want to see Nigeria thrive among the comity of nations, we must shift focus from quantity to quality. We need to talk about how to make our existing universities globally competitive, well-funded, and research-driven. Until we do that, new universities will remain symbols of dysfunction rather than progress.

Kazeem Olalekan Israel resides in Ibadan