GHOST CAMPUS, REAL VICTIMS
The Truth Behind Tower College’s Nursing Deception
By Fellow Nurses Africa, drawing on an investigation by Saturday PUNCH
Lagos, 1 November 2025
A poultry farmer whose Benin Republic university was blacklisted by Nigeria last year has opened an unaccredited college in a remote corner of Lagos State, admitting students without the national entrance exam and promising qualifications that carry no official weight.
Tower College of Health, Science and Management, located on Igbokuta Road in Gberigbe, Ikorodu, is the latest example of a growing number of unregistered institutions exploiting the acute shortage of places in legitimate nursing programmes.
The Site
Two unfinished buildings stand on an unpaved plot. There are no laboratories, no library, and no visible clinical training facilities. On 30 October—officially the start of term—fewer than 30 female students were present; no male students were seen.
The college’s website lists 24 courses, including Nursing Science and Health Information Management, and claims an enrolment of 1,025. Social-media accounts were created between March and April 2024, though promotional material describes an “eight-year legacy”.
Admission requires only secondary-school results. Fees are ₦334,000 for the first session (including an acceptance charge) and ₦260,000 annually thereafter, payable in instalments. Female students must live in college accommodation at ₦200,000 a year.
An administrator told a Saturday PUNCH reporter posing as a prospective applicant:
“Accreditation is in progress. After four to five years you will receive ND and HND certificates.”
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The institution does not appear on any official register of approved polytechnics or health-training colleges.
The Proprietor
The founder is Mr Oluwafemi Adeigbe, previously named as the owner of ESFAM-Benin University, one of several Benin-based institutions whose degrees Nigeria declared invalid in 2024 after evidence of certificate forgery.
A source in Cotonou told Saturday PUNCH:
“Many Nigerian-owned campuses in Benin are dormant because of unpaid compliance penalties. Activity has simply moved across the border.”
Mr Adeigbe uses the same email address for the college and his poultry business, Tower Husbandry Farm. When contacted, he said he was “only a staff member” at ESFAM-Benin and denied owning the Lagos college.
A Wider Pattern
Nigeria has closed more than 50 unapproved health-technology and nursing programmes since 2023. In August 2025 the government ordered the shutdown of 22 unregistered colleges of education. A moratorium on new private institutions remains in force.
Demand far outstrips supply: fewer than 15,000 students are admitted each year to accredited nursing courses, while more than 300,000 candidates typically meet the minimum entry requirements.
Official Reaction
A senior official at the National Board for Technical Education confirmed that Tower College had submitted an application but had not been granted approval. The Federal Ministry of Education has requested further details.
The National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives issued a statement on 1 November:
“A joint enforcement team is being mobilised. Institutions operating outside the law will be closed.”
Advice to the Public
Prospective students and their families are urged to confirm the status of any institution through the following independent channels:
- The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) brochure
- The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) list of approved polytechnics
- State ministries of education
Institutions that waive the JAMB exam, occupy incomplete premises, or have only recently established an online presence should be treated with extreme caution.
Suspicious cases may be reported to local law-enforcement agencies; operating an unapproved tertiary institution is a criminal offence carrying up to ten years’ imprisonment.
The young women currently enrolled at Tower College face the loss of time, money, and professional opportunity. Their experience underlines the urgent need for stricter oversight in a sector where public trust—and patient safety—are at stake.
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Source: Investigative report by Muhammed Lawal, Saturday PUNCH, 1 November 2025
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