The Federal Government has approved the establishment of nine new private universities across the country.

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the approval on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

He said the newly approved institutions are:

1. Tazkiyah University, Kaduna State
2. Leadership University, Abuja
3. Jimoh Babalola University, Kwara State
4. Bridget University, Mbaise, Imo State
5. Greenland University, Jigawa State
6. JEFAP University, Niger State
7. Azione Verde University, Imo State
8. Unique Open University, Lagos State
9. American Open University, Ogun State.

Alausa disclosed that the Tinubu administration inherited 551 pending requests for the establishment of tertiary institutions, which were subjected to stricter approval guidelines.

This, he said, reduced the list to 79 active applications, out of which nine were cleared on Wednesday.

He explained that many of the approved universities had been awaiting accreditation for over six years, with their promoters having already built campuses and invested billions of naira.

“Due to inefficiencies within the NUC, approvals were delayed. We have since introduced reforms to streamline these processes, and today’s approvals are a result of clearing this backlog,” Alausa said.

The minister added that the Federal Government had placed a moratorium on new applications for private universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, except those meeting the new operational standards.

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The Lagos State Government has sealed Dowen College in Lekki Phase 1 over alleged flouting of waste management regulations.

Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, announced the enforcement on Wednesday in a post on X (Formerly Twitter).

While disclosing the official update, Wahab wrote,” Operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps #LAGESCOfficial in collaboration with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority #Lawma_gov sealed up Dowen College in Lekki over indiscriminate waste disposal.”

The action followed a Tuesday post by the commissioner in which he shared a video showing operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps apprehending a yet-to-be-identified man for allegedly violating waste disposal rules.

In the footage, the man admitted to working with Dowen College after being questioned by an official, leading the agency to trace the offence to the school.

“This waste was traced to Dowen College in Lekki Phase 1. Such disregard for environmental laws is unacceptable.

“Corps Marshal of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps has been directed to proceed with sealing the premises.

“We will not hesitate to take firm action against any institution or organisation that violates our waste management regulations.

“Lagos must remain clean, safe and healthy for all residents, and enforcement will continue without compromise,” Wahab said in the earlier post.

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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Wednesday said it will begin screening for over 500 exceptional candidates below 16 years of age seeking admission into tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session between September 22 and 26.

The exercise will be conducted by a special technical committee set up by JAMB, according to resolutions reached during a virtual meeting of members on Wednesday.

Speaking during the meeting, Registrar of JAMB, Ishaq Oloyede, said three venues have been selected for the screening: Lagos, Abuja, and Owerri.

He said Lagos will host 397 candidates, Owerri 136, and Abuja 66.

Oloyede, who noted that out of 41,027 underage candidates who sat for the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), more than 40,000 did not scale the first hurdle,  explained that the screening is to ensure that only exceptional and well-prepared underage candidates gain admission.

“People have been doing it in other parts of the world. We are not reinventing the wheel,” he said.

During the meeting, a subcommittee led by Prof. Taoheed Adedoja presented its report on the planned assessment, stating that candidates will face subject-specific tests followed by a brief oral interview.

The committee also resolved to request the result details from the West African Examination Council to verify the eligibility of some shortlisted candidates before they appear for interviews.

Participants in the virtual meeting included heads of tertiary institutions, government agencies, civil society representatives, members of the Nigerian Academy of Education, and the principal of Federal Government Gifted Academy, Suleja.

Recall that out of the 1.955 million candidates who sat for this year’s UTME nationwide, 599 scored above 300 but fell below the minimum admission age of 16, prompting the creation of the screening committee.

The policy aligns with the Ministry of Education’s directive setting 16 as the minimum entry age for tertiary institutions.

The initiative is designed to ensure that candidates admitted are mentally and psychologically prepared for the demands of higher education.

Four universities,  the Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; University of Jos; and Osun State University, have already informed JAMB that they will not admit underage candidates under any circumstances.

JAMB says the policy will balance academic excellence with cognitive maturity, prevent age falsification, and protect young candidates from undue parental pressure.

The Board is targeting only candidates who score at least 320 in UTME (80%), achieve a minimum of 80% in post-UTME, and secure at least 80% (24/30 points) in a single WAEC or NECO sitting.

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