The Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has called for deeper structural reforms within Nigeria’s tertiary education system following the Federal Government’s decision to impose a six-year moratorium on the establishment of new federal and private universities.
Speaking on Arise TV, the National Liaison Officer of CONUA, Dr. Aminu Abdullahi Isyaku, noted that while the moratorium is a welcome step toward addressing the uncontrolled proliferation of universities, it must also trigger a broader reflection within existing institutions.
Dr. Isyaku observed that many universities are increasingly creating new departments and faculties without the necessary funding, infrastructure, or qualified manpower to sustain them. According to him, the unchecked multiplication of administrative units risks further stretching already limited resources and undermining the quality of higher education.
He emphasized that if the objective of the Federal Government’s policy is to restore quality, sustainability, and proper planning in the tertiary education sector, then similar discipline should be applied internally within universities. Rather than endlessly expanding institutional structures, universities should consider developing multiple related degree pathways and specialized programmes within existing departments and faculties.
“Strengthening existing structures will contribute far more to academic quality than fragmenting scarce resources across numerous new administrative units,” he stated.
Dr. Isyaku further called on the Federal Government to use the moratorium period as an opportunity to convene a broad-based national stakeholder engagement involving government, regulatory bodies, universities, academic unions, the private sector, and civil society to deliberate on a long-term strategy for tertiary education in Nigeria. According to him, such dialogue should focus on sustainable expansion, funding models, academic planning, and quality assurance frameworks that will guide the sector beyond the moratorium period.
He stressed that without both internal institutional discipline and a coordinated national strategy for the future of tertiary education, the spirit and intended impact of the government’s moratorium could ultimately be undermined.
