Nigeria, March 31 -- The penchant for unrestrained establishment of universities in the country, despite the decrepit state of existing ones, as a result of gross underfunding, is highly counterproductive. The past two administrations took this act to ridiculous levels. Still, it is incredible that the Tinubu government has equally embraced this, despite the fact that objective conditions suggest the contrary.

In the first three months of this year, nine of these institutions have sprung up, including the repurposing of existing public tertiary and even moribund private universities. Also, 11 privately owned universities were granted licences within this period. Though the latter belongs to individuals, they would likely impact the acade...