The Federal Government has commenced plans to overhaul Nigeria’s tertiary institution accreditation system, with the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, warning universities and other institutions against presenting borrowed staff, equipment and facilities during accreditation exercises.
Alausa said the government wants to transform accreditation from a periodic exercise into a continuous, digital and data-driven quality assurance system that will provide a more accurate picture of the actual capacity of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
The minister spoke on Wednesday during the inauguration of a Ministerial Committee on Strengthening Accreditation and Quality Assurance Systems for Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria. According to him, the existing system needs to become more transparent, efficient, evidence-based and difficult to manipulate. He stressed that accreditation should reflect what institutions can sustainably provide throughout the year, rather than what they temporarily assemble when an accreditation team is expected.
Alausa specifically warned against the practice of temporarily moving academic and non-academic personnel between institutions to meet accreditation requirements.
He also identified the borrowing or temporary movement of laboratory equipment, workshop resources, library materials and other facilities solely for accreditation as practices that must end. The minister said an institution should not be allowed to create a temporary picture of its capacity simply to satisfy an accreditation team.
As part of the proposed reforms, the Federal Government plans to deploy technology to strengthen the verification of institutional resources.
Alausa said geospatial mapping, geotagging and digital identification technologies could be used to verify infrastructure, equipment and personnel. The system is also expected to help identify cases where an individual may improperly be presented as full-time staff in more than one institution.
The minister explained that Nigeria's current accreditation model largely operates as a periodic process, with exercises often conducted every three to five years. The proposed system would instead require institutions to maintain the required standards continuously. A digital accreditation platform would allow regulators to regularly update and verify information on staffing, laboratories, workshops, facilities and equipment before physical accreditation visits.
The National Universities Commission (NUC) already describes accreditation as a process designed to ensure that university programmes meet national minimum academic standards and maintain acceptable quality.
The Federal Government's latest move is therefore aimed at strengthening the credibility of that process and ensuring that accreditation results reflect the real conditions students encounter in their institutions.
Earlier reforms have also focused on reducing duplication and inefficiencies in accreditation, with the government calling for a more coordinated system involving relevant regulatory and professional bodies. If implemented effectively, the new approach could place greater pressure on tertiary institutions to maintain adequate staffing, infrastructure and learning resources throughout the academic year rather than preparing temporarily for accreditation visits.