NUC battles professional bodies on  oversight of  varsity courses to stem rising costs

Universities all over the world strive for excellence, which comes at a great cost. Nigerian universities are no exceptions, but the  challenge is that despite sharing the same  objective  of quality assurance, the lack of synergy reflected in uncoordinated, even contradictory, actions  between academic programs’ accreditation, which is within the remiss  of the National Universities Commission (NUC), and professional regulators is  fomenting  chaos in the Nigerian University System (NUS), experts informed Business Hallmark.

This increasing trend of over- regulation is high-lighted by a high dose of regulatory dissonance between these regulators, thus creating confusion.

Professor Jubril Ahmed, a biochemist, told Business Hallmark that the problem is the overlapping roles of these bodies, noting that, “As a result of this lack of synergy the country’s tertiary education sector is embroiled in difficult systemic challenges arising from multiple accreditation processes by various regulatory bodies.

At issue, according to Business Hallmark’s investigations,  is the overlapping, and often contradictory, roles  statutorily assumed by the National Universities Commission (NUC), the country’s  regulatory authority, and  multiple  professional bodies saddled with the responsibility of accrediting specific academic programs.

Conflict Costs Money

The relationship and interface among these regulators, according to findings,  have been hostile  and, as a result,  triggers controversies, which itself has  worked against efforts to ensure educational quality,  academic progression, and  stakeholders’ confidence.

In the beginning was the legal university oversight authority, which is the  reason for  NUC established under Act No. 49 of 1974, and amended in 1993, saddled with the responsibility of  maintaining academic standards nationwide, but the NUC now  finds itself contending with  several  professional bodies, each empowered by its laws to enforce overlapping and often conflicting demands on identical academic programs.

“What is more problematic is the financial losses  arising from  conflicting, often duplicated, accreditation oversight in Nigerian federal universities.  As I speak, it has reached  alarming levels,” Dr. Olufeagba Anjorin, an engineering don, who recently retired from the university’s system told this medium.

Going by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) 2023 Accreditation Cost Analysis, institutions spend an average of N1.5 billion  annually serenading  overlapping  red-tape  processes.

A thorough analysis of these expenditures  showed  that conservatively 65 per cent of the funds are  expended  on logistics, such as transportation, accommodation, and feeding for several  accreditation teams, while only about 25 per cent directly support substantive improvements in academic programs.

“You can imagine what these funds could have been put to use to fund research, or other development, had it been that these accreditations were streamlined,” Anjorin submitted.

Investigations show that  in 2023 alone,  Ahmadu Bello University’s (ABU) Faculty of Engineering  spent i N32 million across three parallel accreditation processes conducted by the NUC, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), and the Nigerian Society of Engineers. These joint, but  uncoordinated inspections  led to  conflicting facility requirements for the same laboratories, doubling  costs and operational problem.

NUC Over lordship

But in a marked  policy  review, the NUC  has stopped professional bodies, such as I CAN, (Institute of Chartered Accountants  of Nigeria, COREN, (Council for Regularization of Engineers). Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Council on Legal Education, etc from carrying out accreditation exercises in Nigerian universities.

This development mirrors decision the commission’s presumption of its statutory duty  as the sole accrediting authority for academic programs in degree-awarding institutions, as outlined in the Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act, CAP E3.

The  decision is significantly geared toward  at addressing challenges caused by overlapping accreditation processes and giving steam to NUC’s mandate to ensure academic quality and integrity in universities.

Of recent, though, there has been calls for more rapprochement between ‘gown’ and ‘ town’, academia and industry, which, according to analysts, tend to respect the view of professional bodies in accreditations.

In a recent memo by the agency  to vice-chancellors titled: “Re: Stoppage of multiple accreditations of academic programs by professional bodies in Nigerian universities,” and seen by BH, the regulatory body averred that it “is in receipt of the attached letter, Ref. FME/DUE/206/1/191 dated May 9, 2025, from the Federal Ministry of Education informing it of the ministry’s observation of the increasing trend of multiple accreditations of academic programs by various professional bodies, independent of the commission.

“The Minister of Education has, therefore, approved that, henceforth, all professional bodies shall no longer be allowed to conduct independent accreditation of academic programs in Nigerian universities,” it read.

The Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, has sued  for improved coordination among regulatory agencies to safeguard the integrity of Nigeria’s higher education system.

Ribadu asserted that though NUC is empowered by law to set minimum academic standards and accredit degree programs in Nigerian universities, several professional bodies have secured separate legislative mandates from the National Assembly, often without involving the NUC in the process.

This untoward development, he noted , has  resulted in the duplication of roles, tension between agencies, and confusion within the Nigerian University System (NUS).

Where Two Elephants duel

The imbroglio came to a boiling point in 2025, when the NUC publicly faulted professional bodies’ independent accreditation exercises, significantly highlighting  the continuing crisis at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), where the dental program is a case study in regulatory conundrum  and governance lapses.

Of recent, the Federal Ministry of Education, together with  the NUC and key stakeholders, kick-started  a  joint  drive to reform and unify accreditation frameworks. For example, the University of Calabar dentistry programme crisis showcases  the problems caused by multiple accreditation mandates.

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), responsible for regulating dental education and professional standards, refused to accredit UNICAL’s dental program and denied licensure eligibility to hundreds of graduating students due to gross violations of approved student quotas.

This is even as  NUC had initially granted UNICAL provisional faculty approval to admit a limited number of students per academic session (officially 10), the university admitted up to 90 dental students yearly. This over-admission, which reportedly involved more than 300 students over successive years (far beyond the MDCN’s sanctioned quota), led the council to reject the university’s accreditation renewal and graduation lists.

The University of Calabar is just a metaphor for what goes on across different campuses in Nigeria. As expected, the result was serious; students were barred from professional examinations,  igniting  protests, uncertainty, and risks of wasted academic investment.

UNICAL’s internal governance deficit ,  together with poor  regulatory coordination, were the major causes  of this crisis. What this development brought to the fore is the regulatory conflict between academic program accreditation (NUC’s domain) and professional accreditation and licensing (MDCN and similar bodies for other professions).

Since the National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act, CAP E3, is the legal framework that mandates the commission to ensure uniform academic standards and safeguard university autonomy within a coherent regulatory framework, the NUC’s issuance of a directive prohibiting professional bodies from conducting independent accreditation exercises in universities, thereby, cementing its role as the central accrediting agency.

Only a limited list of professional regulatory bodies, including MDCN, Council of Legal Education (CLE), Nursing and Midwifery Council, Pharmacy Council, Veterinary Council, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), and Architects Registration Council, were granted waivers to operate strictly in collaboration with NUC.

This directive highlights the reality that while professional bodies play important  roles in assuring discipline-specific standards, their accreditation activities must be streamlined, coordinated, and integrated within NUC’s regulatory system to avoid duplication, contradictory decisions, and institutional confusion.

Multiple accreditation problems   are ensconced in jurisdictional lack of clarity and overlaps. In other words, legal and functional overlaps exist because professional bodies have statutory mandates to regulate professional training and practice within their sectors, leading them to accredit and inspect academic programmes related to their professions.

Among other things, public analysts cite contradictory standards, requirements from professional bodies and NUC, as well as different accreditation criteria, as often worsening the problem.

Further findings  reveal that in some cases, the NUC may stress academic staffing qualifications (e.g., a minimum of 60 per cent PhDs among lecturers), while professional bodies focus on professional qualifications, fellowships, or curricula tailored to industry standards.

Such divergent standards often result in simultaneous accreditation approval and disapproval of the same programs by different agencies.

On his part, education consultant, Dr. Adebisi Banjoko, pointed to the lack of effective coordination and communication in the loop. In view of this, thousands of Nigerian students face uncertainty over programs accreditation status, delays in graduation, and the inability to obtain professional licenses required for employment, which directly harm their career prospects.

Universities also risk losing accreditation, facing funding cuts, and decreased competitiveness both nationally and internationally due to accreditation controversies.

Many stakeholders have been calling for reforms, including  the education minister, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who have underpinned  the challenge of multiple accreditation processes on universities. Alausa has called for a reform to foster  efficiency, clarity, and mutual respect among regulators.

A professor of Adult Education at Ekiti State University (EKSU), Adeolu Osikoya, suggested joint accreditations and evaluations by the NUC and relevant professional bodies, pooling expertise and aligning standards to eliminate contradictory decisions.

“By uniting accreditation under a joint framework, Nigeria aims to ensure academic rigor, protect students’ futures, reduce institutional conflicts, and uphold the credibility of its tertiary education sector,” Osikoya noted.