A ban on the establishment of new universities in Nigeria will allow the government to improve the quality of education and increase student numbers at existing tertiary institutions, according to the country’s education minister.
Speaking to Times Higher Education, Tunji Alausa said the West African nation had “overbuilt” universities in recent years.
The government first imposed a seven-year ban on the establishment of new public tertiary institutions in August 2025, before extending it to private providers in March 2026.
“We have so many of these universities, both public and private, with very significantly reduced utilisation,” Alausa said. “So why do you continue to build when the utilisation in some of these universities is less than 10 per cent?”
When the suspension was first announced, the minister noted that many institutions were operating far below their capacity, including one university that had 1,200 staff and less than 800 students.
