The National Universities Commission (NUC) has received €3 million as the first tranche of the $40 million loan secured from the French Development Agency (AFD) to support major Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects in 10 selected universities across the country.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Mr. Abdullahi Ribadu, disclosed this on Wednesday during the inaugural meeting of the 13th NUC Board held at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Ribadu said the deposit, confirmed on Tuesday by the relevant director, marks the formal take-off of the ICT Blueprint Project aimed at strengthening digital infrastructure, research capacity, and innovation across Nigerian universities.
“We have secured a $40 million loan from the French Development Agency for the ICT Blueprint Project in 10 selected universities. Only yesterday, the director confirmed to me that the first tranche of €3 million has been deposited in our CBN account to kick-start the process,” he said.
He noted that since assuming office a year ago, the Commission has advanced reforms centred on entrepreneurship, digital transformation, research enhancement, and skills development.
Ribadu added that the NUC has strengthened its internal financial management systems, licensed new private universities, approved new academic programmes, supported the take-off of newly established public universities, expanded open and distance learning centres, and intensified system-wide quality assurance exercises, including the ongoing 2025 accreditation exercise.
“These priorities form the foundation of the Commission’s direction, and I seek your support in advancing them,” he told board members, assuring them of full cooperation and access to the Commission’s resources.
He expressed confidence that the expertise of the newly inaugurated board would improve governance and help reposition the Nigerian university system at a time of rapid global changes in higher education.
Chairman of the 13th NUC Board, Emeritus Professor Oluremi Aina, in his remarks, thanked President Bola Tinubu for his continued support to the university sector.
He said the board was assuming its mandate during a period of transition for higher education globally, with rising standards and heightened expectations.
Aina outlined five central pillars that would guide the board’s stewardship, including performance evaluation, improved university rankings, digital literacy enhancement, research expansion and institutional reforms.
He stressed the need for the Commission to regularly review the NUC Act, understand operational challenges, compare performance against global standards, and address deficiencies without sentiment.
Aina also aligned the board’s strategic priorities with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly in resolving long-standing disputes with university-based unions, improving digital literacy, and leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance academic competitiveness.
He emphasized the need to eliminate governance weaknesses, research stagnation and funding constraints, stressing that “Nigerian universities cannot thrive on ingenuity alone.”
According to him, the board will work to identify new funding channels, strengthen existing utilisation frameworks, and invest in the welfare and capacity of NUC staff to ensure strong regulatory performance.
“We will seek to leverage technology to ease our burden through the adoption of digital platforms for the advancement of our collective objectives,” he said, noting the weight of expectations placed on the board by Nigerians.
Earlier this year, the French Development Agency approved a €38 million credit facility to support the digital transformation of 10 federal universities under the Blueprint-ICT-Dev Project, which aims to upgrade digital infrastructure, strengthen ICT capabilities and deepen digital literacy across the institutions.
