The Senate on Wednesday, October 2, passed for first and second reading a Bill which seeks to establish a Federal University of Agriculture and Tropical Studies in Iragbiji, Osun State.
The Bill titled: “A Bill for an Act to establish the Federal University of Agriculture and Tropical Studies, Iragbiji, Osun State and to make comprehensive provisions for its due management and administration and for related matters, 2024” was sponsored by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC – Ekiti Central).
After Bamidele presented his lead debate, Senator Olarere Oyewunmi seconded the Bill.
Other senators who supported the Bill included Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin and Senator Solomon Adeola, among others.
The Bill was referred to the Senate Committees on Agriculture and Tertiary Education and TETFUND for for legislative work and to report back to plenary in two weeks.
According to Statista, there were over 270 universities in Nigeria as of 2024, two of which were founded within the first half of that year. Of the total count, 149 were private while state and federal universities added up to 63 and 62, respectively.
Some of Nigeria’s oldest universities are the University of Ibadan, the University of Nigeria, the Obafemi Awolowo University, and the University of Lagos. These four institutions were founded between the end of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1960s.As of 2019, the National Open University of Nigeria was the largest university in Nigeria by number of students.
The number of all students enrolled in this institution reached 565,000 in the said year. The National Open University of Nigeria is one of the largest open and distance learning institutes in Africa. It is based in Abuja but has several campuses across Nigeria.
Meanwhile, there were over 1.8 million full-time undergraduate university students in Nigeria as of 2019. Sciences and social sciences were the most common disciplines chosen by Nigerian students. Administration and management followed as the third most popular faculty. Among master and diploma students, however, administration and management had the largest number of students.
