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JUST IN: FG opposes N/Assembly’s proposals for 200 new varsities

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The federal government has expressed opposition to the proposals by the National Assembly for creation of nearly 200 new universities in the country.

It said with almost 200 bills in the National Assembly for establishment of new universities, there is a growing concern that the system is becoming overwhelmed.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, stated this in Abuja yesterday during the third edition of the 2025 Ministerial Press Briefing.

The country currently has 278 universities, 64 of which are federal; 67, state; and 147, private.

The government had, last month, announced a one-year moratorium on the establishment of new private universities “to enhance the quality and sustainability of private universities, ensuring that only institutions with the necessary financial and academic capacity are granted licenses.”

The minister yesterday emphasised that strengthening the capacities of the existing universities is more important than establishing new ones.

He said: “They (lawmakers) are passing a lot of bills. Today, I can tell you that there are almost 200 bills in the National Assembly. We can’t continue like this.

Even though we have a lot of them, the capacity for a university to admit is not there. What we need to do now is to rebuild the capacities so that we can offer more viable courses to our citizens.

“We need to stop this (the 200 bills for new universities) from happening. There is so much pressure on the president. We have to, at least, be sensitive to it as well.

“I understand the sentiment of our legislators. They want to show that they are working. We know they are working. But then, we have enough assets, we have enough opportunities out there for students to go to universities.

“What we now need to do is to begin to mobilise more resources to develop infrastructures, build engineering workshops, build laboratories in these universities, recruit international standard teachers, so that we can begin to get these universities to develop, to deliver high quality of education that will be known for as a country.

“Today, if you care to know, we have 64 federal universities, 67 state universities and 147 private universities.

If you look at the entire enrolment together, the private universities account for just 7.5% of total undergraduate enrolment.

I will tell you the meaning of the number. The total number of undergraduate enrolments today is just about 875,000, which is, at least, fairly low.

“We have universities with less than 1,000 undergraduate students, and there is this intense demand for more universities to be opened. We have to stop that.”

however, it is not only the legislators that are obsessed with pushing for the establishing of universities as constituency project or for status symbol.

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NYSC warns against night travel as 2026 Batch B Stream I orientation begins June 10

The orientation exercise will officially end on Tuesday, June 30, 2026.

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The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) announced Thursday that the 2026 Batch ‘B’ Stream I Orientation Course will begin on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, with the reception and registration of prospective corps members across the country.

In a statement signed by Caroline Embu, Director, Information and Public Relations, NYSC said that the registration would end at midnight on Friday, June 12, in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The NYSC added that the swearing-in ceremony for prospective corps members mobilised for the 2026 Batch ‘B’ Stream I service year would also take place on Friday, June 12.

The orientation exercise will officially end on Tuesday, June 30, 2026.

The scheme wished all mobilised Nigerian graduates safe journeys to their various orientation camps nationwide and reiterated its warning against night travel.

It advised prospective corps members to suspend their journeys once it is 6pm and spend the night at any available corps members’ lodge, military formation, police station, outpost, or palace of a traditional ruler before continuing the next morning.

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President Tinubu appoints 40 years old Prof Aina as JAMB Registrar

Prof Aina will succeed Prof Is-haq Oloyede, whose two-term tenure expires on July 31, 2026.

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Prof Segun Aina

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Professor Segun Aina as the new registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

Prof Aina will succeed Professor Is-haq Oloyede, whose two-term tenure expires on July 31, 2026.

Professor Aina, who will be 40 in July, is a distinguished academic and systems expert with extensive experience in national examination systems, digital infrastructure, and public-sector institutional reform.

A statement by the presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, stated that “President Tinubu expects Professor Aina to bring to bear his vast experience, knowledge and practical insight into the operations of the Board to take the critical educational organisation beyond the laudable heights achieved by his predecessor.”

A professor of computer engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Aina began his career with JAMB during his National Youth Service, gaining foundational experience in national admissions and data-driven institutional processes.

These insights have shaped his ongoing contributions to examination reform and systems optimisation.

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Nigeria now produces 10,000 passports per hour

In an address during the International Civil Service Conference 2026 in Abuja, the minister said that the reform has transformed passport production from a slow, manual and fragmented process into a system driven by automation, integration and efficiency.

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Photo: Minister of Interior, Olatunji Olubunmi-Ojo

Minister of Interior, Olatunji Olubunmi-Ojo, said that Nigeria can now produce “nothing less than 10,000 passports per hour.”

The minister attributes the passport production fest to the establishment of a world-class centralised personalisation centre in Abuja, a development he described as the first of its kind since 1963.

In an address during the International Civil Service Conference 2026 in Abuja, the minister said that the reform has transformed passport production from a slow, manual and fragmented process into a system driven by automation, integration and efficiency.

“For the first time since 1963, we have a world-class centralised personalisation centre in Abuja,” said Olubunmi-Ojo.

“And what that means is that from a system that could do 400 or 500 passports per hour, all over the world, we could barely do three, four thousand a day or per hour.

Today, we are in a position to do nothing less than 10,000 passports per hour with a centralised level of control.”

He said the nder the new arrangement, stressing that the innovation marks a major shift in the management of internal security services and public administration.

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