By Ifeoluwa Odunayo
Legal luminary and ABUAD founder, Afe Babalola (SAN), has warned the Federal Government to stop the unchecked approval of new universities, saying it endangers Nigeria’s educational future.
Speaking at a research workshop in Ado-Ekiti, he said many newly licensed institutions lack infrastructure and standards, prioritizing quantity over quality.
Babalola blamed a weakened National Universities Commission (NUC) for the rise in substandard universities, stressing, “Poor education is worse than illiteracy.”
Babalola disclosed that Nigeria currently has more than 270 licensed universities, with nearly 200 new proposals pending before the National Assembly.
Babalola called for a halt to what he described as an anything-goes syndrome in university licensing and urged the government to prioritize academic excellence and institutional capacity in approving new schools.
