NUC, World Bank Ink $65m Performance Contract With Six Varsities

The National Universities Commission on Wednesday signed additional $65m performance contracts with Vice-Chancellors of six participating universities under the World Bank-backed Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement Project (SPESSE).

The signing ceremony, held in Abuja, brought together officials of the NUC, the Bureau of Public Procurement, the World Bank, participating universities, and other stakeholders.

The SPESSE project was launched in 2021 with an initial $80m World Bank facility to strengthen Nigeria’s capacity in procurement, environmental, and social governance through specialised training in universities.

The deal is aimed at strengthening procurement, environmental, and social governance standards nationwide.

Speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof Abdullahi Ribadu, said the additional financing phase marked “a new chapter” in efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s capacity in procurement, environmental, and social standards.

“This phase marks not only a continuation of the initiative, but also a renewed opportunity to consolidate achievements, scale impacts, and deepen sustainability measures across the participating institutions,” Ribadu said.

The ES explained that the SPESSE project was established to address shortages in skilled professionals in procurement, environmental, and social safeguards, as well as limited academic programmes in those fields within Nigerian universities.

He stated, “The project was conceived to address a critical gap in the Nigerian university system.

“Insufficient supply of skilled professionals in procurement, environmental and social safeguards, as well as the limited availability of specialised academic programs in these fields.”

According to him, six centres of excellence were established across the geopolitical zones under the coordination of the NUC and with support from the World Bank.

He said the centres, including those located at Ahmadu Bello University and Lagos State University, were helping to produce skilled manpower needed to support transparency, environmental responsibility, and socially inclusive development.

“Today, these institutions are playing a strategic role in producing the skilled manpower required to support transparency, environmental responsibility, and socially inclusive development in Nigeria and beyond,” Ribadu stated.

He said the project had recorded significant milestones since becoming effective in 2021, including the development of curricula across short courses, postgraduate diplomas, master’s degrees, and undergraduate programmes.

“Resource verification exercises have enabled the centres to mount postgraduate diplomas, master’s, and bachelor’s programmes, while investments in high-performance computing infrastructure, learning management systems, live streaming facilities, and digital learning platforms have strengthened teaching, learning, and research across the centres,” he said.

The ES added that some centres had begun enrolling foreign students, while over 68 international partnerships had been established.

“In 2025, certification protocols for all three thematic areas, that is, procurement, environmental, and social standards, were developed and activated by the Bureau for Public Procurement, the Federal Ministry of Environment, and the Federal Ministry of Women’s Affairs, respectively, to authenticate practitioners,” he said.

The ES disclosed that three of the six centres had already commenced PhD programmes, while the remaining centres were expected to begin in the next academic session, starting in July 2026.

Ribadu stated, “I am proud to inform you that this has already been actualised, with the commencement of PhD programmes by three of the six centres, and the remaining three set to commence the next academic session commencing in July 2026.”

The ES also announced additional targets for the project under the new financing phase.

“Across the project, we expect to see the production of at least 60 PhDs, the enrollment of no fewer than 60 foreign students, the facilitation of at least 18 staff internships, and the provision of no less than 60 student exchange programmes with foreign institutions,” he said.

He revealed that The Gambia had already expressed interest in sending citizens to the centres.

“We already have an expression of interest from the Gambia to send some of their citizens to the centres, and I ask the vice chancellors to take advantage of this opportunity,” Ribadu said.

Speaking on the impact of the project, he said it had improved capacity building, research infrastructure, and internationalisation within universities.

On the additional financing, Ribadu explained that the project would deepen and expand previous achievements.

“This one is now building on the achievements of the first phase. It will further deepen and expand the specific projects. It will focus on specific areas. Unlike the first one that was just like a template, now it will focus on specific areas of sustainability, environment, and procurement,” he said.

He also noted that electronic procurement would become a major component of the programme.

“The government intends to have all procurements in the future to be done electronically. So all this will now be possible within this funding framework,” he stated.

Task Team Leader of the SPESSE Project, Ishtiak Siddique, said the World Bank considered the project one of its most significant partnerships with Nigeria.

Siddique noted that the World Bank currently had a $17bn portfolio with Nigeria, but described SPESSE as particularly important.

“This particular project is very close to our heart because it actually cuts across all the sectors,” he said.

The team leader stressed the importance of procurement, environmental, and social standards in governance and public service delivery.

Siddique stated, “If you want to do any development activities in the country, or any particular service from the government side you want to give to the citizen, you need to handle procurement, environment, and social sector.”

According to him, the newly effective additional financing package amounted to $65m and was built on the original $80m SPESSE project.

“This additional financing, you have already heard that two weeks ago, the additional financing of $65m has been effective. But it is built on the success of the original project that was $80m original project of SPESSE,” he revealed.

Siddique said more than 40,000 people had already been trained under the programme.

The leader explained, “More than 40,000 people have been trained already in these three standards, which is a big deal.

“It is not like that people will be trained, and then they will forget about their training, but no.