Nigerian Government Scraps Monotechnics, Specialized Universities

Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa'i, minister of Education, has said that the Nigerian federal government has scrapped all monotechnics and specialised universities in the country. 

It was a decision that has continued to baffle many analysts and educationists, describing it as yet another policy sommersault, peculiar of governance in Nigeria.

However, according to Rufa'i, such institutions were  slated to be banned by the federal government in 2001. “The Federal Government has concluded arrangements that there will no longer be monotechnics or universities with single courses or specialised universities," she said. "All monotechnics and specialised universities will have to diversify and expand." 

She made the declaration in Kaduna State, during the opening ceremony of a consultative meeting of the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) with rectors of polytechnics, provosts of colleges and other specialised institutions in Nigeria. Such institutions she insisted, would no longer be allowed to operate in the country, stressing that, they ran the risk of losing their operational licences if they went against the directive of the government. 

Surprisingly, the federal government had only last year, given the go-ahead to graduates of such monotechnics, to be mobilized for the National Youth Service Corps exercise in the country. Moreover, the NBTE has in the past, also given accreditation to such monotechnics. Rufa'i however, said such insitutions were now being ordered to "diversify and expand their operations while maintaining their specialty and focus." Such affected institutions include colleges of agriculture, marine and fisheries, universities of agriculture, and universities of technology.

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