The federal government has approved the establishment of 36 new private universities across the country.
This follows a memo presented by the Ministry of Education during the federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Monday.
The Minister of Education Adamu Adamu made this known while speaking with newsmen shortly after the councils meeting presided over by vice president Yemi Osibanjo.
Adamu noted that with this approval, there are now 72 private universities in the country.
According to him, the approval was given considering the importance of education in bolstering the economic fortunes of the country.
In a separate remark, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said the Council also approved the Universal Implementation of the Employee Compensation Act (ECA) 2010.
Ngige explained that the law is operated by the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), adding that it is a replacement of the old Employee Compensation Act that was known as “Workmen Compensation”.
He said, the Council has approved it for universal implementation, “meaning that apart from the private sector, that is already implementing, the public sector, which is government – federal, state and local governments – have now to adopt this for the protection of their workers”.