UK varsities seek NUC’s approval to operate in Nigeria

The National Universities Commission of Nigeria is currently reviewing applications from the London Academy Business School and the University of Sunderland to offer degrees in Nigeria.

According to a statement issued yesterday, this was confirmed following a meeting between a delegation from the University of Sunderland led by Dr. Derek Watson and the acting Executive Secretary of the NUC, Chris Maiyaki, in Abuja.

“The meeting with the Executive Secretary was very productive, the University of Sunderland has over 30 years of experience,” Watson, an associate professor in the Faculty of Business Law and Tourism, was quoted as saying in the statement.

We introduced this at a UK university before any others. The importance of sticking to the compliance procedures has been reaffirmed today. In addition, we would recruit credible academics to teach our courses from LABS, all of whom are experienced professionals in the consulting and education sectors. The learning experience will be equivalent to that of students in England.

London Academy Business School President/Director of Studies Dr. Larry Jones-Esan said the school’s goal in visiting NUC was to receive approval to begin offering courses in Nigeria.

His words were, “We do not need the NUC accreditation, what we need is recognition, that is very important because if we run any courses in Nigeria without them recognising it, that degree is useless and they cannot do NYSC, so we do not want that to be the case.

“So what we’ve done is I’ve come in as CEO of the London Academy of Business School to meet with them and make sure they know what we’re up to.”

Jones-Esan, sensing an opening in Nigeria, emphasised the significance of the collaboration between the two universities.

“If two million people apply for university admissions every year in Nigeria and only 700,000 are getting a place, that is a problem and that is a challenge, and they want to solve that problem and we think we have come at the right time,” he said.