By Tony Anumnu
The Federal Government has approved the establishment of nine new private universities across Nigeria, with Azione Verde University, Amaigbo, Imo State proudly among them.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the approvals on Wednesday while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.
The newly approved institutions are:
Azione Verde University, Amaigbo, Imo State
Tazkiyah University, Kaduna State
Leadership University, Abuja
Jimoh Babalola University, Kwara State
Bridget University, Mbaise, Imo State
Greenland University, Jigawa State
JEFAP University, Niger State
Unique Open University, Lagos State
American Open University, Ogun State
Dr. Alausa disclosed that the Tinubu administration inherited 551 pending requests for the establishment of tertiary institutions. These were subjected to stricter approval guidelines, reducing the list to 79 active applications — out of which nine have now been cleared.
According to the Minister, many of these universities had been awaiting accreditation for over six years, with their promoters having already built campuses and invested billions of naira.
“Due to inefficiencies within the NUC, approvals were delayed. We have since introduced reforms to streamline these processes, and today’s approvals are a result of clearing this backlog,” he said.
The Minister further announced that the Federal Government has placed a moratorium on new applications for private universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, except those that meet the new operational standards.
Azione Verde University is a project initiated by Opera Don Bonifacio Azione Verde, an international humanitarian organization founded by Rev. Fr. Boniface Ifeanyi Duru, a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Orlu in Imo State.
The university is being developed on a property spanning over 75 hectares in Amaigbo, designed to host faculties, laboratories, a cafeteria, an auditorium (aula magna), student housing, a sports center, a church (Chapel of Christ the King), a library, and an outpatient clinic—all aimed at accommodating more than 5,000 students and fostering human development through higher education and training .
