National Universities Commission, NUC, yesterday granted full operational licences to nine out of 20 private universities that were considered by the Commission, while 11 were given a grace of two years to meet the requirements or risk losing their provisional licences.

Presenting the licences to the nine lucky universities, the Executive Secretary, NUC, Professor Julius Okojie, congratulated the universities that were found worthy to be given full licence as a result of their extra effort at meeting all the requirement set forth by the Commission.

He extolled the commitment of the owners of those universities for their discipline and selflessness that led to making all the necessary sacrifice just to ensure that their universities not only got full accreditation, but also to meet the challenges of qualifying for full operational licence.

He, however, urged the remaining 11 that could not qualify to use the period within the next two years to work out their qualification, promising that the Commission would not hesitate to give them full licence if they qualify before the two years.

Fielding questions from newsmen, Okojie said the other 11 universities are expected to get their courses up to winning full accreditation and appoint governing council made up of men and women of reputation and commendable character that would oversee the running of the universities.

“The 11 universities not given full licence still have some things to put in place. All their courses must win full accreditation and they have to appoint governing council members comprising of men whose character is not in question.

“They should send names of such to us for submission to the Directorate of State Security for investigation and clearance. There must be evidence that they are financially buoyant to run the university. The Commission will visit the schools to see that these things are in place before giving them full licence”, he said.

Meanwhile, the NUC has said that private universities can apply for’);”>apply for funding for their research as there is a N3 billion research grant available and can be accessed by even scholars in the private universities.

Universities that got full licence include Salem, Caleb, Veritas, Afe Babalola, Nigerian Turkish Nile, Godfrey Okoye, Fountain, Adeleke and Western Delta Universities. Those that were extended for two years include Wesley University of Science and Technology, Landmark University, Paul University, Baze University, Obong University among others.