This may not be the best of times for proponents of new federal institutions as the Federal Government, yesterday, placed a seven-year moratorium on the establishment of new federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

The move is aimed at addressing the proliferation of under-utilised institutions and refocusing resources on improving existing ones. Indeed, the Federal Government may be under fresh pressure to overhaul public finance to reduce official waste, block leakages and improve cash flow.

President Bola Tinubu, at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja yesterday, expressed concern about the high cost of revenue collection, even as he charged the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to urgently audit the revenue collection and retention practices.

At another meeting, Edun said ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) should henceforth secure authority to incur expenditure before issuing a letter of contract, as heads of the organisations could no longer rely on appropriation to commence project execution.

The new directive is aimed at improving the government’s poor liquidity and reducing the recurring crisis of havingcontractors waiting endlessly to be paid after they have completed their contracts.

At the FEC meeting, Tinubu directed a sweeping review of deductions and revenue retention practices by Nigeria’s major revenue-generating agencies, in a bid to boost public savings, improve spending efficiency and unlock resources for growth.

The order covers the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

The President specifically called for a reassessment of NNPCL’s 30 per cent management fee and 30 per cent frontier exploration deduction under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), suggesting a possible repeal of the landmark law.

There have been calls for reassessment of the cost of revenue collection, with some experts saying heads of the agencies use the bloated deduction to fleece the government to service their elevated lifestyles.

The tax reform seeks to reduce the cost of collection to two per cent under the new Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS). The tax reform seeks a departure from the current regime, where the NCS receives seven per cent of customs levies and duties while the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) receives four per cent of non-oil taxes.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) also deducts four per cent of royalties, signature bonuses, fines and other oil and gas revenues. Among others, the country loses trillions of naira yearly to inefficient fiscal practices.

From January to November last year, the NCS, FIRS and the NUPRC jointly received a total of N924.7 billion as part of the cost of revenue collection as disclosed by details of the monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

The President, who has been under pressure to improve revenue mobilisation to fund this year’s N55 trillion budget, does not seem to be satisfied with the significant improvement coming from the tax reform, as he urged Edun to audit the public revenue retention template.

Proliferation weakening quality, resources spread too thin, says FG

CURRENTLY, Nigeria has 72 federal universities, 42 federal polytechnics, and 28 federal colleges of education, many of which suffer from poor enrolment.

There are also specialised institutions, such as colleges of agriculture, health sciences, nursing, and innovation enterprise institutions, many of which also suffer from low patronage.

The Federal Government’s decision followed a memo presented by the Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa. President Tinubu’s administration has established 12 new tertiary institutions since May 2023, when it came on board.

The minister told State House correspondents after the meeting that the issue of access to tertiary education is no longer the problem, but the unchecked duplication of federal institutions, resulting in inefficiencies, poor infrastructure, inadequate staffing, and declining students’ enrolment.

According to him, several federal universities operate far below capacity, with some having fewer than 2,000 students. Citing an instance, the minister disclosed that “one northern university has 1,200 staff serving fewer than 800 students.

“This is a waste of government resources. Today, we have 199 universities, where fewer than 100 candidates applied for admission through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). In fact, 34 institutions recorded zero applications,” Alausa stated.

He said the situation is the same with polytechnics and colleges of education. For instance, Alausa pointed out that many of the 295 polytechnics had fewer than 99 applicants last year, while the 219 CoEs recorded similarly poor enrolment. According to him, 64 of the colleges had no applicants at all.

The minister warned that if the trend continues, Nigeria risks producing poorly-trained graduates, losing international respect for its degrees, and worsening unemployment, as the teeming graduates being churned out will not be fit for the job market.

Alausa noted that the moratorium will enable the government to mobilise resources to upgrade facilities, employ qualified staff, and expand the carrying capacity of existing institutions.

He added that the seven-year freeze will serve as a reset button for Nigeria’s tertiary education system, shifting focus from quantity to quality.

He argued that it is unnecessary to establish new federal institutions without improving the infrastructure of existing ones.

“We will invest funds into improving infrastructure, build more laboratories and engineering facilities, employ more lecturers and enhance their productivity,” Alausa said.

However, despite the freeze, nine new universities were approved by FEC, although Alausa clarified that these were not fresh proposals, but long-pending private applications that had undergone rigorous evaluation under the National Universities Commission (NUC).

“When we came in, there were about 551 applications for private universities. Many had been in limbo for years because of inefficiencies in the NUC’s processing system,” he said.

The minister said his team overhauled the process, deactivating more than 350 inactive applications and introducing strict new guidelines with clear timelines.

Out of 79 active applications, he said nine met the criteria and were approved.

“These are private investments where billions of naira have already been spent on infrastructure. It would have been unfair to deny them approval because of past inefficiencies. But this does not affect the moratorium on new federal institutions.  He added that similar moratoriums are already in place for new private polytechnics and colleges of education to prevent a further glut of poorly subscribed institutions.

FG responsible for proliferation, say stakeholders

THE issue of the proliferation of tertiary institutions has been a source of concern to stakeholders, who insisted that the government should focus on infrastructural development and improved funding of existing institutions.

Over the years, Nigeria has not been able to meet the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) standard of 26 per cent budgetary allocation for the funding of education.

The highest allocation so far recorded was eight per cent, yet 60 per cent of that funding for universities goes into recurrent expenditure.

In its wisdom, to complement the funding, the Federal Government’s agencies, such as the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), intervened in infrastructural development in the institutions.

The reality remains that funding has not been adequate for Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. For the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), what we need are universities that are adequately empowered to address the challenges confronting Nigeria and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their peers elsewhere in the world, ‘not mushroom-glorified high schools.’

Similarly, the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) lauded the decision, saying efforts should be made to expand the carrying capacity of existing institutions.

National President of the union, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, said they believe in expanding the capacities, personnel and infrastructure of already existing universities, to improve the quality of products being churned out from these institutions.

A research assistant at the University of Jos, Isa Daniel, said emphasis should be laid on providing infrastructure for already existing institutions.

He said: “One thing we have failed to realise is that universities have hectares of land; what they need are infrastructural inputs – large classrooms, quality sitting halls, modern infrastructure, modern edifices that can accommodate students, and a good environment for quality learning for lecturers, students and researchers.

“We need to revamp, equip and modernise already existing ones, which is where we have failed, and we keep failing.” A member of the House of Representatives, Akin Alabi, while welcoming the decision, said the move will free up significant time for quality legislation, as over half of the bills on the House floor are establishment bills of federal tertiary institutions.

“The next step should be to pause the creation of ALL new agencies. Instead, we can amend existing acts to address new needs and contingencies,” he stated.

In a chat with The Guardian yesterday, some concerned stakeholders faulted the government’s decision, describing it as unfair and unacceptable.

Specifically, the National Mobilisation Officer, Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Michael Adaramoye (Lenin), described the action as an inappropriate response to the crisis plaguing the public education sub-sector.

He hinged his position on the fact that existing institutions are insufficient, overcrowded, and in poor condition, leading to declining education quality and overburdened staff.

Adaramoye, therefore, called for immediate reversal of the policy and proper funding of the sector.

He also urged the Tinubu administration to overhaul facilities, improve workforce welfare, and establish new, well-equipped institutions to meet growing demand.

On his part, the Initiator, Creative Change Centre, Omole Ibukun, described the decision as ‘abdication of responsibility’ on the part of the government.

Ibukun wondered why the ban was imposed when Nigeria has a huge shortage of tertiary education opportunities, leaving millions of qualified young people underserved.  He said, “This decision is short-sighted. Nigeria is a country of over 200 million people, with one of the fastest-growing youth populations in the world. We have a massive unmet demand for tertiary education, with millions of qualified young Nigerians who are turned away each year because existing universities simply cannot take them. A blanket ban ignoresthis reality and will worsen the problem of access to tertiary education.

In his reaction, a public affairs analyst, Ifeanyi Nwoko, lamented the subpar performance of most Nigerian universities.  While throwing his weight behind the moratorium, especially proprietors with questionable backgrounds, Nwoko advocated that there should be an opportunity for reputable institutions to establish themselves and contribute positively to the education sector.

According to him, a blanket ban may be counterproductive, as it could stifle healthy competition and discourage credible investors from venturing into the sector.

He stressed that the focus should be on strengthening regulatory frameworks, improving quality assurance mechanisms, and ensuring that only institutions that meet the required standards are licensed.

Nwoko further noted that Nigeria’s growing youth population demands more access to quality tertiary education, and policies should balance the need for expansion with the imperative of maintaining academic excellence.

Tinubu targets 7% growth rate by 2027, charges ministers on public savings

THIS comes as Tinubu has given his administration high marks for restoring macroeconomic stability, setting a new target of achieving a seven per cent growth rate by 2027, as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda’s drive towards a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

The target will double last year’s 3.4 per cent growth and nearly double the International Monetary Fund (IMF) growth projection for both this and next year. The Fund is expecting the country to finish this year at 3.6 per cent, slightly higher than last year.

The Guardian had reported that the economy would need to grow at a much higher rate to hit the target in 2030 or extend the goal by another 10 years.

The rebased gross domestic product (GDP) estimate put the output level at $245 billion, which is less than 25 per cent of Tibunu’s target.  At the FEC meeting, the President urged his ministers to intensify efforts at optimising public savings as part of the effort to finance sustainable growth, which is required to realise the nominal expansion target and improve the quality of living.

The President reminded the Council that upon assuming office in 2023, his administration undertook far-reaching economic reforms, including floating the naira and removing fuel subsidies, tough measures that initially unsettled the economy. He said the reforms, however, have since paved the way for stability and boosted investor confidence.

“Together, we have implemented bold and difficult reforms that have dismantled longstanding distortions in our economy and restored policy credibility.

“Our economy is now better positioned to attract both domestic and foreign private investment, investment that is critical to stimulating sustained growth, creating decent jobs, and lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty,” he said.

While acknowledging the progress made, Tinubu lamented that public investment remains low at just five per cent of GDP, largely due to insufficient public savings. He called for urgent steps to enhance spending efficiency, review deductions from the FAAC, including cost-of-collection charges by revenue agencies such as the FIRS, Customs, NUPRC and NIMASA and reassess NNPCL’s 30 per cent management fee and frontier exploration deductions under the PIA.

“This is not just an economic target; it is a moral imperative. Stimulating higher growth is the only sustainable path to solving the poverty challenge in Nigeria,” he stressed.

He also highlighted the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme, covering all 8,809 wards in Nigeria, aimed at empowering grassroots economic actors and deepening collaboration with state and local governments.

Reiterating his recent charge to the Nigerian Governors Forum, Tinubu urged governors to prioritise productivity-enhancing investments, strengthen food security, and work more closely with local governments to ensure resources reach the last tier of governance.

He directed the Economic Management Team, chaired by Edun, to comprehensively review all deductions and revenue retention practices and demanded actionable recommendations to the FEC.

“The task ahead is great, but so is our resolve,” he told the Council, adding: “Let us continue to work together with unity of purpose, guided by the Renewed Hope Agenda, to build a prosperous, inclusive and resilient Nigeria.”