The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, recently announced that institutions could independently decide how to select candidates for various courses of study. Speaking from his office on Tuesday, Abraham said the move would strengthen university autonomy, particularly in the area of student admissions.
“When you talk of university autonomy, it is something universal. It implies the capacity of the institution to make crucial decisions, and one of such decisions is who to admit and on what basis,” Abraham said.
He added that admission criteria could consider multiple factors, including available facilities, human resources, societal needs, the university’s vision and mission, and the specific requirements of individual programs.
Abraham emphasized that the Federal Government’s initiative to empower universities in making admission decisions should be welcomed by stakeholders.
Addressing concerns about alleged “admission racketeering,” he described such claims as unsubstantiated, noting that no university has been formally implicated or prosecuted for irregularities.
“The issue of admission racketeering and other irregularities in university admission is still at the speculative level. Yes, there are stories of candidates scoring 300 and above being denied admission in favor of those with lower scores, but I have not heard of any prosecutions,” he said.
The endorsement by Topfaith University underscores a growing conversation on the balance between federal oversight and institutional autonomy in Nigeria’s higher education sector.