Data from the National Universities Commission revealed that no fewer than 19 federal, state and private universities were approved for operations between January and December 2022.

A breakdown of the 19 approved universities shows that only one federal university, King David Umahi University of Medical Sciences, in Uburu, Ebonyi State, was approved in 2022.

Further analysis revealed that a total of six state universities were approved in 2022.

Lagos University of Education, Ijanikin; Lagos University of Science and Technology, Ikorodu; Shehu Shagari University of Education, Sokoto; Enugu State University of Medicine and Applied Sciences, Igbo-Eno; and Emmanuel Alayande University of Education, Oyo State, are among them.

The remaining 12 approved universities were privately owned.

Meanwhile, Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Abubakar Rasheed, has said that promoters of private universities should see their interest in investing in the sector as their contribution to building the university sector and not for profit making.

He said this recently when the promoters of the proposed Amadeaus University to be located at Amizi, Abia State, visited the commission to submit a request for a second verification visit to the proposed university.

This was made known in the commission’s bulletin, which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja.

The bulletin partly reads, “The Executive Secretary noted that the Commission would continue to encourage well-meaning Nigerians to come on board and contribute to the development of private universities in the country.

“He said Nigeria currently has a total of 111 private universities spread across the country, but the nation still needed more because millions of youths who desired to earn university degrees could not do so due to limited access.

“The commission always likes to see and encourage people who desire to give back to society.”

Punch