Laleye Dipo in Minna
After eight years of conception, the Niger State University of Education is now a reality following the green light shown by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to the Niger government for the university to commence academic activities.
The idea of setting up the university was conceived in the last days of the administration of Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu around May 2015. However, the expiration of his tenure on May 29 of the same year did not allow the government to follow it up to a logical conclusion.
The eight years of his successor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, saw the files of the university gathering dust at the office of the NUC when the commission officially informed the then government to revalidate the request.
Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago did not waste time in pursuing the realisation of the project immediately after he assumed office on May 29, 2023, leading to the approval by NUC for the university to take off as the 63rd state university in the country and 270th university in Nigeria.
The establishment of an implementation committee by Bago made up of top scholars and bureaucrats from various sectors of Niger’s economy and headed by Prof Mohammed Kuta Yahaya, an expert in the establishment of universities having been involved from beginning to the end in the establishment of the first Niger-owned Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University IBBU Lapai galvanised activities that led to the approval given by the NUC.
The Resource Assessment Committee of the NUC was on the site of the university to see the structures, equipment, and facilities available for the take-off of the institution, and the team was shocked to note that the structures on the ground are far more than what some old federal universities have. Also, the committee noted that not less than 250 hectares of land is available for the university, of which only 50 hectares have been developed.
The committee did not hesitate to give its approval for the immediate commencement of academic activities by the university, approving 41 courses in 4 faculties, with seven courses each in the Faculty of Science Education and Faculty of Education, 14 in the Faculty of Vocational and Technical Education, and 12 in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Education.
The NUC also asked the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board JAMB to list not only the university but also these 41 programmes on its website for potential admission seekers. However, NUC warned that the approval does not cover the “part-time mode of the programmes.”
The letter conveying the approval, signed on behalf of the NUC acting Executive Secretary Abubakar Girei, explained that “programmes not started in the first five years of approval will be subject to another resource verification by the commission before it can be commenced” and that “the programmes shall bear only the approved titles and nomenclature and any change will require the approval of the commission.”
Bago, by the steps already taken, is aware of the heavy load a second state-run university will place on the shoulder of a government that depends almost 90 per cent on income from the federation account to fund its programmes, which must be why he directed that N20 billion should be included in the 2024 budget.
He renamed the university after former Governor Abdulkhadir Abdullahi Kure, who set up the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University in Lapai.
Chairman of the implementation committee, Prof Mohammed Kuta, also realised the enormous resources that a university of this nature will require, which is why he said the institution will be a Com- University, meaning it will be community-driven in all its activities and will assist the government to drive it’s Green Economy programme and at the same time concentrate on entrepreneurial and skills development.
Yahaya told a news conference that the government has to change the university’s name, going by the pronouncement of the Governor, by taking a bill to the House of Assembly and then gazette the new name.
Though the university is ready to admit students, Kuta warned the public, especially admission seekers, to be wary of fraudsters already posting unauthorised information about admission on social media.
Yahaya said the vision of the new university “is to be a foremost centre of learning specialised and committed to excellence in teaching and research in the field of education and other academic disciplines.”
He added that the institution’s mission is to train men and women who are knowledgeable and skilled in their fields and who can impart knowledge to others geared towards eradicating illiteracy and transforming self and society.
With the university set to go, the academic community anxiously awaits the announcement of its first chancellor and other management staff.
