The National Universities Commission (NUC) signed $65 million performance contracts with the vice‑chancellors of six Nigerian universities in Abuja on Wednesday, extending the World Bank‑backed Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project. The signing, attended by officials from the NUC, the Bureau of Public Procurement, the World Bank and representatives of the participating institutions, adds to the original $80 million facility launched in 2021 to boost procurement, environmental and social‑governance capacity in higher education.
The new financing phase is intended to deepen the impact of the first‑phase interventions, which have already established six centres of excellence across the country’s geopolitical zones. These hubs, located at universities including Ahmadu Bello University and Lagos State University, deliver curricula ranging from short courses to postgraduate diplomas, master’s and bachelor’s programmes. Since 2021 the project has introduced certified curricula, high‑performance computing resources, learning‑management systems and digital platforms, and it has begun enrolling foreign students while forging more than 68 international partnerships.
Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, Executive Secretary of the NUC, said the additional funding marks “a new chapter” for the initiative, allowing the consortium to scale achievements, expand sustainability measures and launch PhD programmes at all six centres by the 2026/27 academic session. He outlined targets that include producing at least 60 doctoral graduates, welcoming a minimum of 60 international students, facilitating 18 staff internships and arranging 60 student‑exchange programmes. The Gambia has already expressed interest in sending students to the centres.
The World Bank’s Task Team Leader for SPESSE, Ishtiak Siddique, highlighted that the project cuts across all sectors of public service delivery. He noted that more than 40 000 individuals have already been trained in procurement, environmental and social standards, and the additional phase aims to train another 24 000, particularly from critical public institutions. A key component of the new financing is the development of an end‑to‑end electronic procurement system for the federal government, with plans to extend the platform to state levels. The system will incorporate emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve efficiency and transparency.
Adebowale Adedokun, Director‑General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, affirmed the bureau’s commitment to producing academically and professionally competent procurement officers. He reported that over 2 700 officers have been certified under the programme and that the forthcoming electronic procurement platform will be supported by online capacity‑building for small and medium enterprises and policymakers handling public funds.
The Vice‑Chancellor of Lagos State University, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji‑Bello, said the project has markedly strengthened institutional systems and learning infrastructure, filling a long‑standing gap in procurement, environmental and social‑standards training within Nigerian universities.
The SPESSE expansion reinforces Nigeria’s drive toward transparent, environmentally responsible and socially inclusive public procurement, aligning university output with national development goals and positioning the country’s higher‑education sector as a regional hub for specialised capacity building.
