Prof. Olugbemiro Jegede warns Nigeria’s private universities risk collapse, urges open learning to meet rising demand and tackle insecurity

The pioneer Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Olugbemiro Jegede, has warned that some private universities in the country are being run primarily as profit-driven ventures, a trend he said could lead to their eventual collapse.

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Prof. Jegede made the remarks on Thursday in Abuja while delivering a public lecture organised by the Federal Government College (FGC), Warri, as part of the school’s 60th anniversary celebrations.

The Emeritus Professor highlighted Nigeria’s ongoing struggle to accommodate the growing number of candidates for the 2026 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and other admission tests conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

He said many universities lack the capacity to admit significant numbers of students, worsening access to higher education.

“I think we are almost getting to 200 institutions now. Given the population of Nigeria, we don’t have enough universities. Even the ones we have, their carrying capacity is very low,” Prof. Jegede said.

“Many of these universities cannot take more than 1,000 or 2,000 students. Some private universities don’t even have 500 students. Many will soon close down because of the way they are running it.”

The former NOUN vice-chancellor attributed the problem to proprietors’ focus on short-term profits. “Many people who set up these private tertiary institutions believe that it is a business venture.

As soon as they set it up, next month they are asking, where’s the money?” he said. He added that establishing a university requires patience and a long-term commitment, noting that it could take seven to 10 years to break even.

Prof. Jegede also advocated for open and distance learning as a more sustainable solution to Nigeria’s growing demand for higher education. He cited NOUN’s impact since its establishment in 2002/2003, which has produced close to 750,000 graduates.

In contrast, Nigeria’s largest conventional universities typically admit only 40,000 to 50,000 students, meaning the country would require nearly 30 conventional institutions to match NOUN’s output.

Beyond tertiary education, Prof. Jegede expressed concern over the declining state of unity schools, particularly Federal Government Colleges, pointing to insecurity as a major challenge undermining national integration.

Echoing his concerns, Dr Godwin Alo, Global President of the FGC World Students Association, said security challenges were discouraging students from certain regions from enrolling, threatening the survival of national student networks. “For any nation, once you’re not secure, you have no nation.

That’s the reality because it’s going to stifle so many things,” he stressed.

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The lecture underscored the pressing need for reform in both higher education and unity schools, emphasising sustainable management, digital learning, and national security as critical priorities.