The National Universities Commission (NUC) has directed universities in the country to resume by January 18.
This was contained in a Friday statement signed by NUC’s Deputy Executive Secretary (Administration), Chris Maiyaki, on behalf of the Executive Secretary, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed.
The directive aligned with an earlier one by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 which ordered schools to resume on January 18.
According to the statement, further directives will be communicated to the universities accordingly.
Recall that Nigerian public universities were on strike from March to December 2020, a period of nine months.
However, academic activities could not resume despite the suspension of the strike as the NUC had ordered all tertiary institutions to remain shut indefinitely, in response to the second wave of COVID-19.
According to the NUC, the new directive became a necessary sequel to several enquires on the full import of the commission’s previous letter with Ref. No. NUC/ES/138/Vol.63/151 and dated December 23, 2020, on the issue.
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The NUC, however, mandated officers on Grade Level 12 and below to remain at home for a period of five weeks as earlier directed by the federal government.
The commisison told universities to safeguard lives by strictly adhering to the extant safety protocols and guidelines of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, which have been communicated severally to them through NUC circulars.
He said, “I am to add that universities on the resumption of academic activities, must under no circumstance violate the full cycle of the semester system, consistent with the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards approved by the NUC, as well as other extant quality assurance standards and guidelines.”