The National Universities Commission (NUC) had in 2022 announced the development of a National Guidelines on Transnational Education.
The Nigerian government has advised foreign institutions willing to operate in Nigeria to follow due process as outlined in the country's guidelines on transnational education.
The Minister of State for Education, Tanko Sununu, made the call when he received Antonio Tillis, the Chancellor of Rutgers University-Camden, described as one of the oldest universities in the United States of America.
Mr Tillis was accompanied by the Senior Vice Chancellor of the university, Jimmy Jung.
A statement by Ben Goong, the Director Press and Public Relations at the education ministry, noted that the Nigerian government is ready to work with and accommodate foreign universities in Nigeria so as to improve access to quality higher education in the country.
The National Universities Commission (NUC) had in 2022 announced the development of a National Guidelines on Transnational Education.
The then Deputy Executive Secretary of the NUC, now Acting Executive Secretary, Chris Maiyaki, said the document would guide foreign investment and partnerships between foreign universities and their Nigerian counterparts.
Mr Sununu also presented the Rutgers university officials with a copy of the National Guidelines on Transnational Education.
"(Mr) Sununu who told the visitors that access to quality education is a priority of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration maintained that the Federal Ministry of Education has taken the charge of the president very seriously and will stop at nothing in delivering quality education to the vast majority of Nigerians," the statement reads in part.
Population as Nigeria's asset
The Minister also tasked Nigerian higher institutions to collaborate with their foreign counterparts to train more professionals to replace those exiting the system "instead of lamenting over the issue of brain drain."
He added that Nigeria has capacity to provide significant chunk of manpower needs around the globe, given the country's population.
"Mr Sununu lauded the collaborative efforts of the Rutgers University with the Universities of Lagos and Ibadan, maintaining that the Federal Ministry of Education will do everything within the ambit of the law to encourage collaboration between Rutgers University and Nigerian Universities especially in the areas of Science & Technology," the statement added.
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Mr Tillis speaks
Thee statement said Mr Tillis told the minister that his university is seeking to renew the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Lagos as well as expanding collaboration with other Nigerian universities in areas of research and exchange of academic programmes.
The call comes as the Nigerian government is trying to sanitise the higher education system, especially the operation of illegal foreign universities and their certificates in the country.
In the past week, the Nigerian government suspended the evaluation of degree certificates from neighbouring Republic of Benin and Togo. The government has also constituted an eleven-man inter-ministerial committee to investigate illegal degree awarding institutions as well as private institutions established in the country in the last 15 years.
