By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The long-standing rivalry between the Federal Government of Nigeria(FGN) and the Academic Staff Union Of Universities(ASUU) has caused a lot harm than good. And for the fact that the essence of the feud borders on a call for good renumerations for the serving lecturers is what so many people find disturbing. Don’t they deserve a good pay? Are they demanding too much? Or, are there no resources to meet those demands?

Questions like the ones posed above have made people react differently to the prevailing fight between the duo. But the one thing worrisome about the whole saga is the students being at the receiving end.

For over a decade, there have been strike actions by the union, expressing dissatisfaction with the manner in which the federal government of Nigeria handles welfarism of its members. The strike, which always comes and goes intermittently, has caused a lot of setbacks and disruption in the academic journey of many Nigerians schooling in the public universities.

Barring a last minute intervention, a fresh strike action by the union will be enforced before the year runs out. And as usual, students would be forced to go back home. Panels and committees had been inaugurated severally to discuss and arrive at an agreeable term between the two parties, but all to no avail. What must be done to settle this unending phenomenon once and for all?

On the other hand is the issue of mass proliferation of universities and federal polytechnics by the federal government of Nigeria. The current higher institutions of learning are barely being managed as they should be grossly underfunded. And the government is giving approval for the creation of other dozens of them. It could be said that it is a systemic move by the government, and the execution is being done geographically.

A detailed account of this development right from the administration of former president Jonathan, down to this very present government, will make it crystal clear that the government is indecisive in handling educational policies of this country.

Jonathan came into power and initiated the “one-state-one-federal-university” policy which gave rise to the creation of more universities during his tenure. Same way, the late president Buhari took over power in 2015 and approved the conversion of many existing agricultural colleges and institutions into full-fledged universities of agriculture and technology. Now, right from 2023 to date, the Tinubu’s administration has taken the same route as the previous two with the approval of nine new institutions in the first three months of this year.

However, in a sudden reversal, the Federal Government in August 2025 imposed a seven-year suspension on the establishment of new federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. This came after the National Universities Commission (NUC) had earlier, in February 2025, declared a one-year moratorium on new private university applications. According to Education Minister Dr. Tunji Alausa, the suspension was a “reset button” to halt the unchecked proliferation that was leading to a decline in quality. He explained that many federal institutions are underutilized—one with 1,200 staff has fewer than 800 students—while resources are overstretched and duplication has become rampant.

The policy, however, did not stop the approval of nine private universities during the same Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in August. These were not new submissions but long-pending applications that had already passed evaluation before the moratorium took effect. Alongside this, the NUC is reviewing its guidelines for establishing private universities and intensifying its clampdown on illegal institutions.

On The Proliferation of Higher Institutions

Again, Dr. Auwalu Muttaqa expressed great dissatisfaction with the development, attributing the trend to one of the reasons behind their setbacks in the education sector of Nigeria:

“On the other hand is the growing concern amidst the creation of several universities and polytechnics in addition to the ones existing which are not being properly funded.”

“The lecturers are demanding for a descent welfarism which has not been met, instead the government finds it satisfying to create more of institutions which indirectly means more academics. Who does that? Does that even make sense?”

He also linked the proliferation to political interests:

“By the time each of those house of representatives or senators demands that a university or polytechnic should be created in their constituencies, everywhere would be flooded with dilapidated higher institutions because none of them cares for the proper funding of these institutions. And they do all that because of votes. They need something to campaign with.”

According to him, even the new moratorium by the government is a reactionary measure, not a well-thought-out policy shift:

“Let us tell ourselves the truth, there’s a serious brain drain issue in the education sector of this country, and nobody is willing to talk about proffering solutions to it now until it escalates to a point that will be uncontrollable. The suspension is good on paper, but without addressing funding and staffing, it changes nothing.”

In a stark contrast, Shola Sherif, a medical student, opined that the country is currently not capacitated to accommodate students applying into various undergraduate programs, hence the reason why assenting to more creation of higher institutions of learning isn’t a bad thing:

“There are over 1.5 million prospective candidates of Joint Admission and Matriculation Board(JAMB) every year, and the federal, state and private universities combined can only offer admission to about 500,000 to 700,000 of these candidates. So, it’s, to me, the most sensible thing to do creating more higher institutions.”

In response, his colleague, Mubarak asked:

“They should keep on establishing more institutions while the existing ones are not being properly funded?”

And Shola replied:

“We seriously need to manage. Would you rather have those millions of brilliant minds waste at home because you need proper funding?”

The proliferation of universities and other tertiary institutions in Nigeria is a deliberate and accelerated policy trend that has been most prominent since 2000s, with a significant surge between 2010 and 2023 as discussed in the first part of this piece. According to some, as disclosed by Shola Sherif, the strategy is primarily driven by the need to address the critical and growing imbalance: the massive demand for university education versus the severely limited supply of admission space.

While on the other hand are those advocating for proper funding of these institutions or the newly established institutions should be scrapped; citing the shortage of academic staff in the country due to brain drain which will definitely make the new institutions created not only deficient in funding but also in academic manpower.

Also, others see the incessant strike actions by the Academic Staff Union Of Universities(ASUU) as a selfish attitude, urging them to resign if their demands are not being met. The issue, in all honesty, should be resolved amicably in the sense that both parties will be happy at the end.

At the heart of it all, however, lies the bone of contention: proper funding of universities and enhanced welfare and remuneration for academic staff. The underfunding of the higher institutions of learning is realistic, it’s not a hearsay. And the funding capacity by the government is never a big deal—what is lacking is the political will to prioritize education.

So the questions are:

Is the government willing to fund the various higher institutions of learning, and create enabling environments for the attainment of human capital development by the academics?

Should the academic staff who found the treatment from the government unsatisfying tender their resignation letter instead of embarking on strike every now and then?