NUC: Only 1% Of Nigerian Population In Universities

Abubakar Rasheed‎, executive secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), says only one percent of Nigeria’s population form the total enrollment of students in the country’s 164 universities.......

Rasheed made this known in Abuja on the sidelines of the presentation of Provisional License to a new private university, Skyline University, Kano.

Skyline is the 75th private university approved by the national executive council. ‎

Rasheed said the 75 private universities in the country accounted for 5.31 percent of the total enrollment in the universities across the country.

He described the situation as unhealthy and stressed the need for more access either by creating more universities or expanding existing ones. ‎
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“‎All the 75 private universities in the country account for only 5.31 percent of the total enrollment in our universities and many of them are small,” he said.

“If you look at the population of 198 million which is nearly 200 million and if you bear in mind that the total enrollment in our universities today, all the 164 universities is less than 2 million.

“That is just 1.96 million students in the universities that translates roughly to one percent of the population; one percent of the population are in the university, I think that is not healthy.

“So, we need more access; that is why we need either more universities or we need expand existing universities. We need to create more space for more Nigerians to get quality university education.”
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The NUC boss said the commission could not regulate the fees of private schools. ‎

He ‎called on government at all levels and philanthropists to institute scholarship for indigent students, who are intelligent to enable them access quality education ‎.
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Rasheed said the NUC would continue to support investors in university education as long as they delivered quality education, which will in turn develop the country. ‎

“The future of this country rests in the strength of the university education, so we will continue to support investors in our university education,” he said.

President Muhammadu Buhari has called on nations where looted assets have been stashed to release them without the usually long technicalities involved in the process of repatriation. Buhari made the call on Sunday during his introductory remarks as the leader of the African Union (AU), with the theme, ‘Winning the Fight against Corruption, A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation’, shortly before the commencement of the debate on the African Anti-Corruption Year at Nuakchott, Mauritania. He said, “We must all collectively work to place high on the agenda the need for open and participatory government, as well as the repatriation of stolen assets without procedural technicalities and legal obstacles.” The president also appraised the anti-corruption efforts so far, saying that, “During the last 6 months, we have engaged in multi-sectoral dialogue with a broad range of actors including parliamentarians, national anti-corruption agencies, civil society, media, youth and women groups and development partners. We have convened three different regional Consultative Workshops in line with my campaign programme in an effort to sensitize our people on the evil effects of corruption on our societies. “These workshops will be extended to other regional blocs as we continue the fight against corruption in a bid to transform our continent.” The President further informed the gathering of his intention to partner with the AU Chairperson to further push the frontiers of the anti-corruption battle for positive results. He said, “I plan to convene the African Youth Congress in Abuja within the next quarter, and we will be working with the Chairman of the African Union, His Excellency, Paul Kagame and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, to organize an Interactive Dialogue on the theme at the next session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York during the high level segment.” Buhari also used the opportunity of the gathering to call on all other Member States that are yet to ratify the AU Convention on Preventing and Combatting Corruption to take all necessary measures to sign and ratify it in order to achieve its universal ratification during this calendar year as the Republic of Mauritius just did, becoming the 40th State Party to the Convention. The President thanked African Heads of State and Government “for the continued support provided to me in driving and amplifying the African Union anti-corruption agenda. Your unwavering support remains a strong source of strength and encouragement as we look forward to an even more vigorous second half of this year.” The AU theme of the year leader recalled that the meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council held under the chairmanship of Nigeria in April 2018 highlighted the corrosive effect that corruption can have on societies, considered the link between corruption and conflict and its implications for peace and security in Africa and concluded by emphasizing the need to utilize South-South cooperation mechanisms through voluntary information exchange, mutual legal assistance and sharing of best practices among national anti-corruption agencies, audit agencies and investigative bodies. Buhari also stressed that, “the scourge of illicit financial flows continues to bite, eating back the gains and militating against the attainment of our aspirations under Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.” He reiterated Nigeria’s abiding commitment to the fight against corruption. Quote: “We must all collectively work to place high on the agenda the need for open and participatory government, as well as the repatriation of stolen assets without procedural technicalities and legal obstacles.” – President Muhammadu Buhari

Read more at: https://dailytimes.ng/buhari-demands-easy-repatriation-stolen-assets/