The National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved six new full-time undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for the University of Benin (UNIBEN), scheduled to take effect from the 2026/2027 academic session.
The green light follows a successful resource assessment visit conducted by the commission to evaluate the institution’s capacity to host the new disciplines.
In a statement released on Sunday by the university’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Benedicta Ehanire, the institution highlighted that two of the new undergraduate courses are uniquely tailored to combat the severe shortage of specialized professionals in Nigeria’s healthcare sector.
These specialized offerings include a Bachelor of Speech Language Therapy and a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy.
According to the university, these medical programmes align with a broader policy drive by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, to prioritize specialized manpower training in vital medical fields.
In addition to the therapy courses, the NUC approved undergraduate degrees in International Relations, Intelligence and Security Studies, Primary Education (B.Ed), and a Bachelor of Nursing Science (B.N.Sc), which will be run in partnership with the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).
At the postgraduate level, the regulatory body approved Master’s and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in Remote Sensing and Aeronautical Engineering. These advanced courses will be domiciled within the university’s Centre of Excellence in Space Science Technology and Application.
Welcoming the development, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Edoba Omoregie (SAN), expressed appreciation to the NUC. He reaffirmed UNIBEN’s dedication to academic excellence, stating that the institution will continue to innovate its curriculum to remain a premier hub for human capacity development.
