Federal Executive Council has approved the establishment of four new private universities in Nigeria.
The minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, made the announcement of the approval while briefing state house correspondents at the end of the first meeting of the council this year.
The new private universities are Greenfield University, Kaduna; Dominion University, Ibadan Oyo State; Trinity University, Ogun State and Westland University in Iwo, Osun State.
According to the minister, the four universities were approved because they had met necessary requirement for the establishment of Universities following the visit of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
He said, “All the four have satisfied the criteria for the establishment of universities. “They have submitted their academic briefs, their master plans and evidence of facilities after visitation by the National Universities Commission (NUC); they have satisfied all those requirements and they are being granted licences’’.
This approval brings the number of private universities in Nigeria to 79.
Before today’s approval, the total number of universities in the country, with over 150 million populations, was 160 (40 federal universities, 45 state-owned universities and 75 private universities).
Meanwhile the NUC had previously (August 2018) said it was processing over 200 applications for new private universities in the country.
