Briefing journalists at the end of the virtual Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on behalf of the Minister of Education said that the approval was given by the council following a memorandum presented by the Ministry of Education on behalf of the National Universities Commission, NUC.

He explained that the new universities would be mentored by Bayero University Kano to provide recruitment of principal officers, academic, and administrative staff, availability of human and material resources for the commencement of any academic programme, among others.

The government said that the country does not have enough universities to accommodate the teeming population of youths desirous for university education.

The Government also said that its relevant ministries and agencies were interfacing with the striking unions like the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU; Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU; Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions, NASU, and the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT, to ensure that the strikes were called off.