The Federal Government has instructed all tertiary institutions which include: universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education across the country, to move their connectivity and services to the Nigerian Research Educational Network (NgREN), a flagship of the National Universities Commission (NUC).

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, gave this instruction yesterday in Abuja at a workshop on EBESCOHOST Electronic Content, organised by NUC for Vice Chancellors and other representatives of Nigerian universities.

Consequently, public universities and other tertiary institutions in the country have been banned from subscribing to private providers of internet broadband with immediate effect.

The Minister of State for Education, Professor Anthony Anwukah, who represented Adamu said the federal government would no longer condone a situation where individual institutions subscribe at higher costs for services which could be provided at a cheaper rate through the NgREN consortium.

Presently, NUC is working with EBSCO host, a South African information and technology firm to provide electronic books and journals that could be accessed by all users in Nigeria.