NUC Charges VCs on Quality, AI Integration, Research Commercialisation
Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abdullahi Yusufu Ribadu, has charged vice-chancellors of Nigerian universities to ensure that Nigerian universities remain nationally relevant and globally competitive through quality assurance, digital transformation and research commercialisation.
Ribadu gave the charge on Tuesday at the opening of the 2026 NUC Retreat with Vice-Chancellors of all Nigerian universities held at the Idris Abdulkadir Auditorium, NUC, Maitama, Abuja.
He said the retreat, holding on October 13-14, 2026, provides a platform to reassess policies and address challenges confronting the Nigerian university system at a time of rapid changes and exponential developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The executive secretary said the commission under his leadership has strengthened its operational guidelines, including new guidelines for the award and use of honorary doctoral degrees with sanctions for defaulting universities, and introduced Post Matriculation Monitoring and Carrying Capacity visits to improve admission processes.
He said the NUC Policy Development Strategy Committee (NUC-PDAC) has completed the Blueprint 2.0 for the rapid revitalisation of Nigerian university education, while the commission is developing a 21st Century Strategic Plan as it transits from Annual Performance Evaluation (APER) to Performance Monitoring System (PMS).
Ribadu announced plans to institute post accreditation monitoring visits to strengthen programme accreditation.
He said the commission has consummated several initiatives to boost research, including the ACE Alliance platform uniting 20 Africa Centres of Excellence (ACEs) in Nigeria, a four-volume compendium of research outputs, and integration of TETFund’s Tertiary Education Research and Application Services (TERAS) platform with the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN) on the directive of the minister of education.
The NUC boss said the commission is developing a National AI Roadmap and Policy Framework and working to establish a Division for Research Commercialisation.
He disclosed plans for an international tour for select vice-chancellors to universities in Europe and Asia to explore global trends in research commercialisation.
On digital transformation, Ribadu said NUC has deployed e-NUC as a transformative platform to automate its entire workflow and is developing accreditation software to improve transparency and data management.
He stressed that university leadership requires vision, integrity and accountability, and urged VCs to ensure decisions are guided by due process and engagement with staff, students, councils and stakeholders.
While acknowledging funding challenges, he urged universities to explore innovative resource mobilisation through partnerships with private sector, alumni and development partners, noting NUC’s partnerships with World Bank, Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) and African Development Bank (AfDB) to reposition the NUS for excellence.
“The future of Nigerian higher education requires bold leadership, innovative thinking and collective responsibility,” Ribadu said.