Academic Time Bomb! Afe Babalola Calls Out FG Over Proliferation OF Substandard Varsities

Renowned legal luminary and elder statesman, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), has urged the Federal Government to halt the indiscriminate approval of licenses for new universities in Nigeria.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Speaking on Monday at the High Impact Research and Journal Advancement Workshop held at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), the university’s founder warned that continued authorization of substandard institutions without proper attention to quality and infrastructure could lead to long-term damage to the nation’s educational system.

Reflecting on past practices, Babalola praised the era of Prof. Peter Okebukola as Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), when the process of university approval was rigorous and meticulous, especially for professional programs such as Medicine, Engineering, and Law.

“Today, however,” he lamented, “we are witnessing a wave of approvals for mushroom universities — many of which lack even the most basic learning facilities.”

He expressed concern that this “anything-goes” trend has weakened the NUC’s ability to enforce quality control, leading to an influx of substandard institutions.

“Nigeria currently has over 270 universities,” Babalola revealed, “and the National Assembly is considering proposals for around 200 more.”

He criticized the shift in focus from quality to quantity, warning that this trend is accelerating the decline of educational standards and degrading the competence of graduates.

“What Nigeria needs is quality education. Poor education is worse than no education at all,” the Senior Advocate of Nigeria asserted.

Babalola emphasized that true national development — especially through meaningful research — cannot be achieved unless the country addresses the proliferation of poorly regulated universities.

He concluded that if Nigeria is serious about using research to drive sustainable development, the first step must be to restore integrity and thoroughness to the university licensing process.

Meanwhile, in his lecture titled “Promoting High-Impact Research Publications for Sustainable National Development in Nigeria: Opportunities, Challenges and Future Directions,” Prof. Peter Okebukola advocated for stronger collaborations with international researchers as a strategy to improve the global rankings of Nigerian universities.