The federal government on Thursday issued provisional licences to the nine new private universities with a note of caution against operating outside the regulations governing the operation of universities in Nigeria.

Speaking at a ceremony where he presented the licences to the proprietors of the universities in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, urged that high academic quality and moral standards should not be compromised for any reason as the licences would be withdrawn if any of the universities is found wanting.

Substantive licences would only be issued in three years after successful fulfilment of all the laid down requirements, he said.

“Prior to this approval, Nigeria had 129 universities, servicing a population of over 170 million people. In comparison to countries like Brazil and Mexico which have 1,648 and 1250 universities to service populations of 203 million and 120 million respectively, the gross inadequacy of this figure in relation to population size becomes glaring,” Shekarau said.

He disclosed that as universities remain a core platform for human capital development, the government would continue to work to improve access to the sector.

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http://monitor9ja.com/2015/03/fg-issues-provisional-licences-to-nine-private-universities-six-in-the-south-west/