Afe Babalola wants EFCC, NUC to prosecute operators of illegal varsities

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Afe Babalola, on Sunday charged the National Universities Commission (NUC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to move against operators of illegal universities in the country.

Babalola, who made the call at the 9th Convocation Ceremony of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado-Ekiti, said the arrest and prosecution of operators of illegal universities would safeguard the nation’s education system from imminent collapse.

The ABUAD founder urged the NUC to be strict and thorough in regulating the establishment of universities in Nigeria.

He also cautioned state governors against establishing universities for political reasons.

He stressed that many of such universities become unsustainable after the governors leave office.

Babalola said: “Most disappointedly, the National Assembly for some time now approved the establishment of one subject universities in members’ constituencies.

“One remembers the fate of state universities established by some governors in their localities, which were not sustainable after they left power.

I call these universities political universities. I call on NUC, which in law is authorized to approve the establishment of universities, to ensure that the conditions laid down in law are strictly followed.

“The NUC on its website had been publishing names of illegal universities annually. This means no action had been taken against those which were discovered the previous years.

“The damage done to education by these illegal universities is irreparable.

“I call on the Federal Government, Federal Ministry of Education, NUC, EFCC to identify these universities, their operators and teachers and take appropriate sanctions which include forfeiture of the property and imprisonment of collaborators.”

#ASUU says it will embark on fresh strike if FG fails to honour agreement.

A recent report indicates that the dispute between the federal government and ASUU is far from over The union discloses why academic activities in public universities may not begin soon – ASUU tells the government what it must do to resolve the industrial dispute

An emerging report indicates that lecturers in public universities may soon begin another strike if the federal government fails to fulfil its own part of the agreement reached in December 2020. The Academic Staff Union Of Universities (ASUU) stated that a fresh industrial action could commence as early as next week. Government officials discussing with representatives from ASUU.

The union made the disclosure in a tweet on Monday, January 4. In another tweet on Tuesday morning, January 5, ASUU advised the government to honour the agreement reached to avert the planned strike. Meanwhile, Nigerian university teachers have accused the federal government of reneging on the agreement .

List of Nigerian universities that have announced resumption dates after 9 months of ASUU strike.

From late March to December 2020, Nigerian public universities were locked due to the strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

After months of negotiations, the lecturers’ union finally suspended the strike on Wednesday, December 23.


However, schools could not resume immediately as the nation had already entered the festive period filled with public holidays. Similarly, the federal government also directed all universities in the country to suspend academic activities due to the spread of COVID-19.

The directive was issued by the National Universities Commission (NUC) via a circular signed by its deputy executive secretary administration, Chris Maiyaki.

However, some universities have now announced their resumption dates. Legit.ng in this piece lists three public universities that are set to resume academic activities in January.

List of Nigerian universities that have announced resumption dates after 9 months of ASUU strike.

  1. University of Ilorin : The management of the University of Ilorin has declared that the institution would resume full academic activities for the Rain semester on January 11, 2021. After 9-month-old strike, Nigerian university cancels academic session, announces fresh resumption date The university explained that lectures will, however, be delivered online in line with the directives of the NUC.
  2. Bayero University Kano (BUK) : The Senate of Bayero University Kano (BUK) has approved the cancellation of 2019-2020 academic sessions. According to the Senate, new academic session for undergraduate students will begin on Monday, January 18, 2021 as the first semester, while the second semester will begin on Monday, May 3, 2021. For the postgraduate students, the Senate slated Monday, January 18 as the date to resume for the first semester while the second semester will begin on Tuesday, June 1.
  3. University of Benin in Benin City (UNIBEN) : All returning students (old and new) of the University of Benin in Benin City (UNIBEN), Edo state, have been also directed by the management of the institution to resume for 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 academic sessions on January 30, 2021.

Universities in 4 states resume despite NUC circular.

Despite the circular released by the Nigerian Universities commission (NUC) directing universities in the country not to resume academic activities until February due to the feared outbreak of the new strain of the coronavirus disease, some states have announced that academic activities in their locality will begin before the date given by the Nigerian Universities commission.

Plateau State Government released a circular throughThe state’s Ministry of education which informing the general public that academic activities in all schools at all levels in the state will begin on 18th January 2021.

Benue state government also released a circular via the ministry of education stating that academic activities across the state will commence January 2021 with the specific date to be announced subsequently.

kwara state government in the same vein also issued out a circular informing all those concerned that academic activities in the state will resume on the 11th of January 2021.

Rivers state on Sunday also announced the resumption of academic activities in the state to begin on the 4th of January 2021.

All the above mentioned states have agreed to adhere strictly to the Covid-19 safety protocol in the course of their activities…