No fewer than 63 bills have been tabled before the Senate and the House of Representatives for the creation of new universities, polytechnics, colleges of education since the beginning of shutdown of activities in public tertiary institutions in the country in 2022, investigation has revealed.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union have, however, warned the government against the establishment of new institutions while failing to fund the existing ones.
Nigeria has a total of 49 federal universities. The official data from the National Universities Commission also revealed that the country has 59 state universities and 111 private universities.
The National Board for Technical Education also puts the number of Federal Polytechnics at 40; state owned at 49 and private at 76.