{"id":2719,"date":"2013-04-26T08:41:14","date_gmt":"2013-04-26T08:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/nigeria-plans-six-mega-universities\/"},"modified":"2013-04-26T08:41:14","modified_gmt":"2013-04-26T08:41:14","slug":"nigeria-plans-six-mega-universities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-plans-six-mega-universities\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria plans six mega universities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nigeria’s National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday approved the upgrade of six federal universities to mega tertiary institutions with absorptive capacity of 150,000 students to 200,000 students each.<\/p>\n

Gov. Peter Obi of Anambra state disclosed this when he briefed State House correspondents in Abuja on the outcome of the Council\u2019s meeting presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo.<\/p>\n

Obi said the Council\u2019s decision was sequel to the recommendations of a Technical Committee on the Needs Assessment of Nigerian Universities (CNANU).<\/p>\n

He said NEC endorsed the committee\u2019s recommendation that the six mega universities should be located in each geo-political zone.<\/p>\n

Obi said the upgrade of the designated universities would be in medium term and it would assist in clearing the backlogs of students seeking admission.<\/p>\n

Obi said the Council also endorsed the recommendation of the committee that both the federal and state governments should prioritise funding by raising budgetary allocation to tertiary institutions.<\/p>\n

He said NEC also endorsed the strengthening of the composition of the governing councils of universities by increasing the number of members, who have a direct stake in academics on the board.<\/p>\n

The governors said NEC also approved the introduction of attractive incentives to promote post-graduate education and upgrade the academic qualifications of all lecturers to PhD level within a given period.<\/p>\n

Obi said Council also approved government\u2019s investment in hostel accommodation, establishment of specialised laboratories and a robust federal and state scholarship scheme.<\/p>\n

He said Council also endorsed the lifting of the moratorium on the creation of more than one university by state governments.<\/p>\n

The acting governor of Taraba, Alhaji Garba Umar, said Council endorsed the purchase by state governors of 78,000 laptops used by INEC for the 2011 general elections.<\/p>\n

Umar said Council took the decision following a brief by the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega.<\/p>\n

He said NEC set up a committee to negotiate the mode of payment for the computers which would be distributed to students in the states.<\/p>\n

The NEC is the highest economic decision making body presided over by the Vice President with all the state governors, Minister of FCT and some key ministers as members.<\/p>\n

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