Peter Obi, a critic of the Nigerian government and major opposition figure, believes Nigeria should have at least 1000 universities, sharing lessons he learnt from his visit to Indonesia.

Mr Obi, a former Anambra governor and presidential candidate in the 2023 poll, said this while sharing highlights on his visit to the Asian countries.

The former Anambra governor said Indonesia has about 4,000 universities, arguing that Nigeria, having almost 80 per cent of Indonesia’s population, should have at least 1,000 universities.

“As we all know, the more educated a country is, the more developed it becomes. 

“At the tertiary level, Indonesia has over 4,000 universities, while Nigeria has less than 10% of that—despite having a population that is about 80% of Indonesia’s. Based on this ratio, we should have at least 1,000 universities,” Mr Obi said.

He added, “We discussed Indonesia’s educational system, which serves about 50 million pupils at the basic education level with over 3 million teachers.”

According to Mr Obi, with the strict implementation of its compulsory basic education policy, Indonesia achieved a 99 per cent school enrollment rate, significantly addressing the issue of out-of-school children. 

The Nigerian politician also disclosed that with 20 per cent of Indonesia’s annual budget allocated to education, the Asian prioritises “a critical pillar of national development.”

Nigeria has 125 public universities, 63 owned by 36 states and 62 owned and funded by the federal government, according to Statista.

Mr Obi’s call for more universities came amid ramshackle infrastructure in public universities.