Greenland University, American Open University – List of 9 newly approved private universities in Nigeria

The Federal Government has approved the establishment of nine new private universities in Nigeria.

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the approval on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

Alausa disclosed that the Tinubu administration inherited 551 pending requests for the establishment of tertiary institutions, which were subjected to stricter approval guidelines.

This, he said, reduced the list to 79 active applications, out of which nine were cleared on Wednesday.

He explained that many of the approved universities had been awaiting accreditation for over six years, with their promoters having already built campuses and invested billions of naira.

“Due to inefficiencies within the NUC, approvals were delayed. We have since introduced reforms to streamline these processes, and today’s approvals are a result of clearing this backlog,” Alausa said.

The minister added that the Federal Government had placed a moratorium on new applications for private universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, except those meeting the new operational standards.

Here is the list of the newly approved private universities.

1. Tazkiyah University, Kaduna State; 

2. Leadership University, Abuja; 

3. Jimoh Babalola University, Kwara State; 

4. Bridget University, Mbaise, Imo State; 

5. Greenland University, Jigawa State; 

6. JEFAP University, Niger State; 

7. Azione Verde University, Imo State; 

8. Unique Open University, Lagos State; and 

9. American Open University, Ogun State.

Before the latest approval, Nigeria had 159 private universities, according to data from the National Universities Commission. With the addition of nine newly approved private universities, the total has now risen to 168.