The Director-General (DG) of Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama, has urged Nigerian universities to explore the capital market’s potentials for sustainable funding.
Delivering the 16th convocation lecture of Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State in southwestern Nigeria, on Friday, Agama said that relying solely on tuition fees and government grants limited institutional growth, and emphasised that financial survival required capital rather than mere annual income.
He recalled that the university was originally capitalised through a private placement by 90 founding shareholders in 1994, rather than through government allocations or foreign grants.
“Self-funding means having capital, while tuition is merely income. Income pays salaries and buys diesel, but capital builds long-term assets.
“Private institutions should break free from the ‘tuition trap’ and utilise innovative financial instruments such as education bonds, sukuk, real estate investment trusts (REITs), and structured endowment funds to build durable infrastructure.
“Nigeria’s pension assets stood at N31.48 trillion as of July 2026, while institutional investors are actively seeking long-dated, secured assets like student housing,” Agama said in the lecture titled “From Grants to Growth: Financing Nigeria’s Universities Through the Capital Market”.
He cited local precedents such as Ekiti State’s N32.5 billion infrastructure bond and a $40 million corporate loan secured by Afe Babalola University from the African Development Bank.
“The constraint is not appetite, but a shortage of investable paper.
“Capital market funds require strict financial transparency, including published audited accounts, credit ratings, and robust institutional governance.
“An institution seeking third-party capital must be able to demonstrate clear separation from its promoters so that it can outlive its founders.
“Audited accounts, published, on time, every year, without exception. Not accounts that exist somewhere. Accounts that are published.
“The graduands are the primary collateral and beneficiaries of institutional investment, they should participate actively in the nation’s financial system.
“When a pension fund buys a 20-year instrument secured on a university, it is making a bet on Nigerian graduates. Your careers are the ultimate collateral. That is not a metaphor; it is how the arithmetic actually works,” he said.
In his remarks, the Founder and Pro-Chancellor of Achievers University, Owo, Prof. Bode Ayorinde, commended the lecturer and assured that the institution would review the funding models presented.
GIK/APA