{
  "id": 18511030,
  "title": "N1.3trn Owed, N250bn Paid, FG Begs Senate to Stop Creating Varsities It Cannot Fund",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/06/n1-3trn-owed-n250bn-paid-fg-begs-senate-to-stop-creating-varsities-it",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-06T13:58:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "This Day",
    "slug": "this-day",
    "url": "https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/11/06/n1-3trn-owed-n250bn-paid-fg-begs-senate-to-stop-creating-varsities-it-cannot-fund/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Nigerian government is seeking to stop the creation of new federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for seven years in order to prevent overburdening the already strained education sector. According to the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, only a fraction of the promised N1.3 trillion for university revitalisation between 2013 and 2018 has been released. In a letter to the Senate President, Alausa highlighted the urgent need to strengthen existing institutions rather than dilute resources across more entities. He pointed to issues like inadequate lecture halls, insufficient laboratories, and shortages of lecturers and funding as major challenges facing Nigerian tertiary education. Alausa warned that creating new institutions without proper funding could lead to future financial liabilities and necessitate costly restructuring or closures. He cited examples from Australia, Finland, Japan, the United States and South Africa where mergers and consolidations have improved efficiency. The seven-year moratorium, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council, aims to consolidate existing investments and improve the quality of existing institutions. Alausa urged the Senate to support the moratorium and exercise restraint in approving bills for new institutions during this period.",
  "summary": "Kuni Tyessi in Abuja Of the N1.3 trillion promised for the revitalisation of public universities between 2013 and 2018, only N250 billion, which is less than 20 per cent, was",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}