By Razaq Bamidele
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a former Pro-chancellor of Federal University of Dutse, Jigawa State, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, has advocated for the establishment of more universities in Nigeria to afford the teeming population of Nigerian youths the opportunity to have access to quality higher education needed for the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
“To place embargo on the establishment of more universities in Nigeria may derail the noble programmes of the present administration to provide unlimited opportunities for the acquisition of skills for employment,” the former minister of sports and special duties explained.
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According to him, the increasing growth in Nigeria’s population supports the justification for the establishment of more universities across the country commending the efforts of the National Universities Commission (NUC) in ensuring quality and high academic standards for existing universities as well as for the newly established ones, public or private.
Speaking to reporters in Abuja Tuesday, the former Dean of Education at Bayero University Kano further asserted that, “We do not have the moral justification to shut the doors to other children to acquire education when our children have had such opportunities.”
Adedoja, who was once the Provost, Federal College of Education (Special) Oyo, in Oyo State stressed that with only about eighteen per cent of applicants gaining admission to tertiary institutions in Nigeria in the last ten years, existing public universities should be better funded by government for higher admission capacities while the private sector should be encouraged to partner in the establishment of more quality institutions of higher learning in Nigeria.
