President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent approval of the establishment of the Federal University of Science and Technology, Epe, Lagos State, has continued to stir controversy, especially given the Federal Government’s standing seven-year moratorium on creating new tertiary institutions. Many Nigerians see the move as a contradiction of the government’s own policy, raising questions about consistency, fairness, and governance ethics.
The announcement was made by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during Thursday’s plenary session, where he disclosed that President Tinubu had signed the Federal University of Science and Technology, Epe (Establishment) Bill 2025 into law. “It is my honour to announce that the Federal University of Science and Technology, Epe establishment bill 2025 has been assented to by Mr President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Akpabio said.
Ordinarily, the creation of a new university should be a cause for celebration — an indication of the government’s commitment to expanding access to higher education and fostering innovation. However, Tinubu’s decision comes barely months after his administration, through the Federal Ministry of Education, announced a seven-year ban on establishing new public universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. The rationale behind the ban was clear: to enable government consolidate and strengthen existing institutions, many of which are struggling with poor funding, inadequate infrastructure, and staff shortages.
That the same administration has now gone ahead to establish a new university, and in the President’s home state of Lagos, makes the development both puzzling and troubling. It smacks of inconsistency. Critics have described the move as a policy somersault that undermines the credibility of the government’s own directives.
The question that arises is simple: if the Federal Government has declared a moratorium to control the proliferation of tertiary institutions, why make an exception — and why now? The optics are particularly poor because it appears that the ban only applies to others, while the President’s home state enjoys preferential treatment. Such actions erode public confidence in government policy and give room for accusations of nepotism and selective implementation of national decisions.
Nigeria currently has over 60 federal universities, many of which face severe challenges from inadequate funding to crumbling infrastructure, incessant strikes, and overcrowded classrooms. University administrators have consistently called for better funding and management autonomy rather than creating new institutions that would further stretch limited resources. Even the National Universities Commission (NUC) has repeatedly cautioned against establishing new universities without addressing the financial and administrative crises of the existing ones.
By approving a new federal university despite the ban, Tinubu’s administration risks sending the wrong signal that, government policies are flexible when political or regional interests are involved. This perception weakens the moral authority of the administration to enforce compliance when others violate its policies. If a seven-year ban exists to ensure stability and consolidation, then creating exceptions for political convenience defeats the purpose of that policy.
The situation also raises fairness concerns. If Lagos can have a new federal university under the guise of special approval, why should other states or regions be denied similar opportunities? What is good for the goose should equally be good for the gander. Other states with pending requests for new universities — some of which have waited years for approval — would naturally feel shortchanged.
Rather than approving new universities, the government should focus on strengthening existing institutions by improving their funding, research capacity, infrastructure, and quality of teaching. Nigeria’s educational challenges are not rooted in a lack of institutions but in the poor state of those already established.
President Tinubu’s decision, though perhaps well-intentioned, represents a misstep in policy consistency. Leadership requires not only making rules but also leading by example in adhering to them. By creating an exception for Lagos, the government risks reinforcing the narrative of preferential treatment and undermining its own reform agenda in the education sector.
If the goal is truly to expand educational opportunities, then the Federal Government must review the ban transparently and apply new policies uniformly across all states, not selectively. Anything less would make the creation of the Federal University of Science and Technology, Epe, not just a contradiction, but a clear misnomer in the pursuit of equitable governance.
