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FG licenses 11 new private universities

The Federal Government, has presented operational licenses to 11 newly approved private universities to expand access to quality tertiary education.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, at the presentation of the licences to the new private universities in Abuja on Wednesday, said it was sequel to the approval by the National Universities Commission (NUC),

NAN reports that the newly licenced universities are: New City University, Aiyetoro, Ogun State, Lens University, Ilemona, Kwara State, and Kevin Ezeh University, Mgbowo, Enugu State.

Others are Southern Atlantic University, Uyo, University of Fortune, Igbotako, Ondo State, Minaret University, Ikirun, Osun State and Abdulrasaq Abubakar Toyin University, Ganmo Kwara State.

Also in the list are, Monarch University, Iyesi Ota, Ogun State, Tonnie Iredia University of Communication, Benin, Edo State, Isaac Balami University of Aeronautic and Management, Lagos State, and Eranova University, Kuje, FCT.

Alausa said the approval was in line with the Nigerian Education Sector Renewal Initiative designed to restore the glory of Nigeria’s educational system.

“This ceremony is not only a celebration of your achievements, but also a renewed call to action in building a future-ready and globally competitive Nigerian university system,” he said.

He highlighted the urgency of steering Nigeria’s higher education toward priority fields such as STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medical Sciences.

“Nigeria has more than enough social science graduates. What we need now are problem-solvers graduates with life skills who can drive industries, build infrastructure, and improve lives.

“We must acknowledge an uncomfortable truth that, while we now have 159 licensed private universities, too many are failing to meet the quality standards Nigeria demands,” he said.

Alausa added that licensing must not be symbolic but must be impactful.

To address this, he said NUC is undertaking a comprehensive review of quality assurance mechanisms aimed at ensuring that all licensed institutions, whether public or private, serve as genuine centres of learning, innovation, and research.

He also encouraged private universities to collaborate with one another and form international affiliations, noting Nigeria’s potential as a hub for global education partnerships.

The minister further revealed that, following presidential directives, several universities that had awaited approval for over four years finally received licenses after a thorough evaluation process completed within three years.

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Education

ASUU threatens to sue JAMB over UTME mass failure

State varsities’ ASUU membership voluntary – Pro-chancellors

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) branch, has threatened to sue the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) over massive failure recorded in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Exam (UTME).

The Chairman of ASUU-UNN, Comrade Óyibo Eze, made the disclosure while briefing newsmen in Nsukka on Wednesday.

Oyibo said the massive failure which mostly affected candidates from the South East, was a deliberate attempt by JAMB to stop children from the zone from getting admission.

“My office has been inundated with protests, calls and visits by parents and the general public on this deliberate massive failure in 2025 JAMB examination.

“ASUU will challenge this result in High Court if JAMB fails to review the result and give candidates their merited scores.

“JAMB knows that children from South East must score higher before they can get admission whereas their counterparts in some parts of the country will use 120 JAMB score to get admission to read medicine in universities in their area.

“In the JAMB recently released result, out of 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the 2025 examination, over 1.5 million candidates scored less than 200 and majority of these are from the South East and Lagos State where many Igbo reside,” he said.

He called on governors from the South East to rise up and challenge this injustice targeted towards preventing children from the zone from gaining admission into higher institutions in the country.

“The governors in the zone should not sit and watch JAMB toy with academic future of our children.

” I am not against the board punishing those found guilty of exam malpractice but JAMB should not, because of these few candidates, fail the whole candidates in an exam centre,” he said.

The ASUU boss said that it was unbelievable and unacceptable that in the whole University Secondary School, Nsukka, no candidate that sat for the exam scored up to 200 in the UTME.

“This school has superlative students who have excelled in academics both inside and outside the school. How come all of them scored less than 200 in the exam?

“Even if JAMB discovered one or two candidates for exam malpractice, is that enough reason to fail all others who have prepared very hard for that exam,” he said.

Oyibo advised JAMB to act fast to do the needful by reviewing the result as that massive failure had become a national issue which might attract national protest if nothing urgent was done.

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Education

JAMB orders review of 2025 UTME

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has ordered an immediate review of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) following a wave of public complaints alleging technical glitches, incomplete questions, and unusually low scores even as thousands of candidates have threatened to sue the examination body.

The Board, in a statement issued by its Public Communication Advisor, Fabian Benjamin, acknowledged what it described as an “unusual volume of complaints” since the release of the UTME results last Friday.

It said the development had prompted it to fast-track its annual post-examination review process, which typically takes place months after the exercise.

“We are particularly concerned about the unusual complaints originating from a few states within the federation,” Fabian said. “We are currently scrutinising these complaints in detail to identify and rectify any potential technical issues.”.

The spokesperson explained that the annual review covers three stages of the UTME cycle—registration, examination, and result release.

He added that if any faults are found in the system, JAMB would not hesitate to implement “appropriate remedial measures.

“To assist in this process, we have engaged a number of experts, including members from the Computer Professionals Association of Nigeria, Chief External Examiners, who are heads of tertiary institutions, the Educational Assessment and Research Network in Africa, measurement experts, and Vice Chancellors from various institutions.”

The exam board noted that “If it is determined that there were indeed glitches, we will implement appropriate remedial measures promptly, as we do in the case of the examinations themselves.”

JAMB’s intervention comes amid reports that thousands of candidates are preparing to file a class-action lawsuit against the Board over the alleged irregularities.

Many claim they encountered technical malfunctions and inconsistent question displays during the examination.

The controversy reached a boiling point after JAMB revealed in its viral statistical data that over 1.5 million out of the 1.9 million candidates who sat for this year’s UTME scored below 200 out of a possible 400 marks

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Education

Govt sanctions school for selling position of Head Prefect during election

The Anambra State Government has imposed a one-month sanction on Blossom Fount School, Awka, for allegedly selling the position of head prefect during a student election.

This was disclosed in a statement on Saturday by the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh.

According to the commissioner, the school reportedly demanded N5,000 from each pupil aspiring to become head prefect in the primary section.

Chuma-Udeh condemned the act, describing it as an attempt to “sell the psyche of the children to the highest bidder from the cradle.”

According to her, such practices are unacceptable under the administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo.

She said that an investigation was ongoing to examine the school’s broader management practices, with the possibility of further actions based on the findings.

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