The Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Private Universities (CPCPU) has appealed to the Federal Government to reopen the country’s 78 private universities which have been shut alongside other educational institutions in Nigeria since March 23 within the next one month to save the nation’s economy.
In the communiqué issued at the end of its Emergency Virtual meeting of July 25, the CPCPU disclosed that private universities are ready to reopen having put in place all the necessary requirements and protocols specified by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to ensure a safe and secure campus for both students and staff.
“We are prepared to open in phases, first with the graduating students, and probably with the first-year students”, the Communiqué read.
CPCPU affirmed that its members round the country had made sustained efforts to comply with the guidelines for the reopening as detailed in its template submitted through the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) to the Federal Government.
The communiqué assigned by former Minister of Education and Pro-Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, (ABUAD) Professor Tunde Adeniran and made available to YEMIEFASH in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti capital on Tuesday by ABUAD’s Head of corporate affairs, Mr Tunde Olofintila, highlighted the contributions that private universities have continued to make in the manpower training and development in Nigeria.