The Federal Government has debunked news report making the rounds about its purported decision to hand over public universities to private investors.
Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, stated this on Tuesday at the Quarterly Engagement of Education Ministers with Directors, Heads of Agencies and Parastatals under the Ministry of Education held in Abuja.
It would be recalled that the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) had raised the alarm over claims that the Federal Government was making moves to hand over public universities to private investors, warning that the move will not be in the interest of the country.
But, the Minister of Education said there has been misinformation in the media space on one aspect of the policy of the government in respect of tertiary education.
“Some people have been carrying the information that the Federal Government is selling off public universities to private investors.This is this is completely false,” the Minister clarified.
He added that the government of the day believed in the provision of public institutions.
“As we all know, this government has not shy away from reforms that this country needs.
“The private sector for decades now has played a major role in the provision of Tertiary Education. There are more private universities in Nigeria than all the government own combined.
“What this government has done is to open up the tertiary education level, in particular the universities for global competitiveness that allows those who operate in this area at international level to come into the country and set up institutions either by themselves or in collaboration with our local universities under very clear guidelines of what is called transnational education,” Prof. Mamman said.
He further explained that in other parts of the world, countries benefit immensely from having renowned international institutions setting up campuses or setting up completely new institutions in those countries.
According to him, “They have taken standards to those countries, it has also saved those countries foreign exchange and even brought more into the country.
“This is what this government has done, it has opened up the tertiary institutions that enable people from the rest of the world to come in and invest in our tertiary education. It is not parting with any of these institutions.”