By Ngozi Nwankwo
National Universities Commission,NUC, has unveiled a sweeping reform package to reposition Nigerian universities for global competitiveness, including a new Blueprint 2.0, stiffer sanctions for abuse of honorary doctorate degrees, post-matriculation monitoring and a National Artificial Intelligence policy for the university system.
The Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, unveiled the reforms on Monday in Abuja at the 2026 Retreat of the Commission with Vice-Chancellors of all Nigerian universities.
The retreat, declared open by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad, is themed: “Enhancing Regulatory Compliance, Governance, Leadership, and Partnership in the Nigerian University System.”
Ribadu, who assumed office on December 23, 2024, said his administration has rebuilt the Commission’s management with substantive directors and overhauled operational guidelines to restore quality and credibility.
“Over the years, NUC has relied on Vice-Chancellors as frontliners to its quality assurance drive. That partnership must now translate to compliance and results,” he said.
A major highlight is the new Guidelines for the Award and Use of Honorary Doctorate Degrees, which prescribes sanctions for defaulting universities, a move aimed at curbing indiscriminate conferment that has eroded academic values.
The Commission also introduced Post-Matriculation Monitoring and Carrying Capacity Visits to check admission malpractices, and disclosed plans for Post-Accreditation Monitoring and deployment of accreditation software to improve transparency.
Ribadu said the NUC Policy Development Strategy Committee has completed a comprehensive review and produced Blueprint 2.0 for the Rapid Revitalisation of Nigerian University Education to align with national and global realities.
He announced that NUC has automated its entire workflow through e-NUC, a transformative digital platform, and is developing a 21st Century Strategic Plan as it migrates to the Performance Monitoring System of the Head of Service.
On emerging technologies, Ribadu said NUC is developing a National AI Roadmap and Policy Framework to guide responsible adoption of artificial intelligence in teaching, research and administration, warning that technology adoption must go beyond hardware.
“Digital transformation must go beyond acquiring hardware and software. It requires institutional readiness, appropriate policies, capacity building and cybersecurity,” he said.
To boost research relevance, he said NUC launched the ACE Alliance platform uniting 20 Africa Centres of Excellence in Nigeria, published a four-volume compendium of their research outputs, and integrated TETFund’s TERAS platform with the Nigerian Research and Education Network,NgREN, on the directive of the Minister of Education.
He added that the Commission is establishing a Division for Research Commercialisation and planning an international tour for select Vice-Chancellors to universities in Europe and Asia to understudy research commercialisation models.
“Our universities must translate research outcomes into practical solutions for agriculture, healthcare, technology, manufacturing and the creative industry, while protecting intellectual property,” Ribadu said.
