Shut down substandard illegal private varsities, Afe Babalola urges NUC

EDUCATION

Shut down substandard illegal private varsities, Afe Babalola urges NUC

Published on Tue 18 Nov 2025

 Aare Afe Babalola, legal luminary and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, has called on the National Universities Commission to revisit its accreditation procedures and clamp down on illegal and substandard private universities across Nigeria.

As reported by Vanguard on Tuesday, Babalola made the appeal while welcoming the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria Accreditation Team to ABUAD, stressing that Nigeria deserves the best in higher education and should not tolerate mediocrity.

He said, ”ABUAD is a non-for profit private university where nobody has shares. Whatever extra money made is always ploughed back into the university.

“As at today, the valuation of the University is put at over N300 billion. When you go round, you will see for yourself: the hospital, the farm, the industrial park, the colleges, and the serene campus.

“According to the World Bank, the three objectives of a university properly so called are: quality teaching, quality research, and community service. We are proud that we have been excelling in all these three parameters.”

Babalola also lamented the proliferation of illegal universities, urging regulators to take decisive action.

“Previously, the NUC used to insist on prior visitation to permanent sites of proposed universities before approval. They will look at the buildings, number, and quality of teachers among other parameters before approval. There is a long list of illegal private universities in Nigeria today.

“I would like the NUC to seriously consider closing such illegal universities down and arrest their owners. This country deserves the best and should therefore not tolerate substandard education.

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 He emphasised the societal value of quality education, highlighting ABUAD’s community-focused initiatives.

“What makes a man and indeed the country is quality and functional education. A well-educated person does not think about himself. Rather, he thinks about his neighbours and the society in order to make life better.

“That is exactly what ABUAD is doing through the instrumentality of ABAEX, Youth Empowerment Programmes, and the various outreaches by our Multisystem Hospital.”

Babalola called for public support for private universities, citing the challenges of funding education solely through government resources.

“No government in the whole world can fund education for everybody. That is why in civilized countries, those who have means established private universities which are supported by public-spirited people and government.

“Since we established this place, nobody has endowed the university with any substantial amount. Even parents whose children graduated from this university could not. I am using this opportunity to call on Nigerians to support quality and functional education,” Babalola said.