Nigeria needs 800 universities to meet the academic requirements of its growing population, a university don and member, Southern Kaduna Professors’ Forum, Professor John Laah, has said.

Laah, a professor of Geography from the Kaduna State University (KASU), said this while speaking with journalists, on Monday.

He said the establishment of the Federal University of Applied Sciences to be located in Southern Kaduna, will add to the number of universities needed in the country.

He further noted that this would be of benefit to Nigerians, not only the people of the area where it will be located.

Nigeria requires 800 universities to meet the academic requirements of our young people, given the growing population. Remember that in 2050, Nigeria will be the 3rd most populated country in the world and going by that, it means we need to begin to increase the number.”

“As it is now, I am a lecturer in KASU, I can tell you that we do not admit up to 27 percent of the students that are qualified for various courses in KASU and if you project to all other universities in Nigeria, it is the same story.

“So what it means is that so many students who graduate secondary and pass the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination cannot gain admission. If you plot a correlation between instability and banditry with lack of enrollment, you will see a direct relationship.”

According to him, “In 2018, we had the privilege of pushing for this university and of course, under Senator Danjuma Laah, it was the Federal University of Science and Technology, Manchok. But the truth is that there was a bill to convert the Federal School of Statistics to Federal University of Science and Technology. Of course his tenure ended and we did not have the bill passed.”

He explained that when the Senator representing Southern Kaduna Senatorial District, Senator Sunday Marshall Katung, came on board, he expressed his interest to push for the Bill to establish a university in Southern Kaduna.

“Marshall picked up the challenge and that was why immediately after he was inaugurated last year, within a month, we had the first reading of the Federal University of Applied sciences. If approved by the president, it will be the first and the only Federal University of Applied Sciences in the country.

“Our own idea is just to have the location within the Southern part and what are the reasons; we feel that once the university is located in the southern part, it is likely to engineer some development and grant our youths who are largely unemployed, those who promote social vices to really gain productive engagement.”

He noted that the university was proposed for Manchok, saying, “The decision to change the university from Manchok to Kachia is a child of necessity and a way to reduce the obstacle towards having a university is to reduce the cost.”

“We know the government will be reluctant to spend several billions to start the structure when there is already an existing structure in Kachia. In other words, Kachia has various categories and groupings than what you have in Manchok.”

He called on all stakeholders to join hands and support the establishment of the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia for the benefit of Nigerians. (Daily Trust