Elder statesman and legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), has issued a strong warning to the Federal Government of Nigeria over the continued approval of licenses for new universities without proper oversight.
Babalola, who is also the founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), stressed that the unregulated expansion of tertiary institutions poses a serious threat to the quality of higher education in the country.
Speaking during the opening session of the High-Impact Research and Journal Advancement Workshop hosted at ABUAD on Monday, Babalola cautioned that without adequate infrastructure, qualified personnel, and effective regulatory control, the proliferation of universities could lead to long-term damage in Nigeria’s education sector.
Reflecting on past standards, Babalola praised the era of Professor Peter Okebukola as Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), noting that during that time, obtaining approval for university licenses was a rigorous and merit-based process. According to him, it was particularly difficult to secure accreditation for sensitive disciplines such as Medicine, Engineering, and Law in the early stages of a university’s existence.
“But what do we have today?” Babalola asked rhetorically. “Mass approvals are now granted to mushroom and ill-equipped universities, many of which lack even the basic academic facilities required for proper learning and research.”
He decried the current state of the NUC’s regulatory role, alleging that the agency’s ability to uphold quality control has been compromised by what he termed an “anything-goes” approach to accreditation.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria expressed deep concern over the growing number of universities in the country, stating, “We currently have over 270 universities, and there are proposals before the National Assembly to license an additional 200 institutions. This points to a dangerous trend where the emphasis is on quantity rather than quality.”
Babalola warned that the unchecked expansion of higher education institutions could further deteriorate the nation’s educational standards and produce graduates ill-prepared for the demands of the modern workforce.
“The result of this careless expansion is a sharp decline in the quality of our graduates, many of whom are ill-equipped to compete globally,” he said. “What we truly need is quality education—because poor education is even more damaging than illiteracy.”
He argued that the foundation for national development through impactful research cannot be laid on a weak academic structure. “If we are truly committed to accelerating Nigeria’s growth through research and innovation, then we must begin by sanitizing the process of university licensing,” Babalola emphasized.
Delivering a lecture at the event, titled “Promoting High-Impact Research Publications for Sustainable National Development in Nigeria: Opportunities, Challenges and Future Directions,” Professor Peter Okebukola echoed Babalola’s concerns. He underscored the importance of international academic collaborations and urged Nigerian institutions to prioritize impactful research and publications that could enhance their global reputation and rankings.
Both speakers agreed that meaningful reform in the higher education sector must prioritize integrity in licensing, investment in infrastructure, and global partnerships to reverse the current decline and ensure Nigeria’s academic future is secured.
