NUC Working With ICPC to Flush Out Illegal Varsities, Says Executive Secretary

The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, has said the commission is collaborating with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences (ICPC) to flush out illegal universities in the system.

He said as a regulatory agency, the job of the NUC is to publicise illegal universities for the public to be aware of such institutions to prevent people falling victim.

Rasheed said this at a parley with education correspondents in Abuja.

The NUC boss, who reinforced the commission’s commitment to improving quality assurance of Nigerian universities, accused parents of abetting the illegal activities of such universities.

He said: “We are not an enforcement agency. We cannot punish these universities. We can only expose them by advertising the institutions for people to know. But the commission is collaborating with ICPC to flush out illegal universities in the system.

“We have set up a committee to look into that, and I can tell you that we are doing a lot to end the ugly trend of illegal universities.”

Commenting on the standard of education in the country, the NUC boss said Nigerian universities are not performing badly on the global scene, as widely projected.

He added that the nation’s tertiary institutions are among those producing the best graduates in the world.

“Nigerian universities are not as badly performing as you think, Nigeria is producing the best students. In fact, Nigerian graduates are among the best students in foreign schools,” Rasheed said.

The NUC boss noted that even though Nigerian universities rank among the best in the world, more efforts should be done for the tertiary institutions to continue to compete favourably globally.

The executive secretary called for increased investment in the nation’s Education sector.

“Nigeria cannot compete well in international ranking, in terms of funding, facilities, and security. These are things that attract foreign students. For Nigeria to be enlisted in the top 5,000 is something commendable because foreign education invests more in the system and Nigeria needs to invest in education,” he added.