Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved the establishment of Gombe State University of Science and Technology, Kumo in Gombe State.
The approval brings the number of state universities to 46 and the number of universities in the country to 154.
The Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed gave the approval in Abuja when the Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo led a delegation from the state to seek recognition for the establishment of the university.
Rasheed said the country is in dire need of new universities to help increase admission spaces in the universities to enable more students to gain admission into tertiary institutions across the country.
He said every year, over one million students are denied opportunity to further their studies at the tertiary level due to the limited spaces available.
“Consequent upon the formal presentation of the relevant gazetted law, academic brief and physical master plan and satisfactory report, I write on behalf of the NUC to inform His Excellency that with effect from Thursday October 26, 2017, Gombe State University of Science and Technology located in Kumo has been recognised as the 46th state university and in general the 154th university respectively.
“All the 153 universities accommodate half a million and we don’t need to be reminded whatever the calculation, we have in every year over 1.9 million who write exams for admission into Nigerian universities, yet the carrying capacity of universities can only accommodate only about half a million every year.
“This means that every year we have more than a million youths who are frustrated, who feel disappointed because they cannot get into the university. This is why any university that is serious about this initiative of setting up a university, we are willing to assist to ensure that our teeming population gets to the university.”
In his remarks, Dankwambo stressed that getting a second university in the state should not be considered too ambitious, as about 90 per cent of Gombe indigenes seeking admission to further their studies are denied entry due to limited spaces.
He explained that in 2016, out of 10,387 students seeking admission into the university, only 3,500 students were admitted, adding that given the improvement in the state education sector and the influx of displaced youths from the states affected by insurgency into Gombe, there is need to set up another university to complement the existing one to provide the indigenes an opportunity to acquire higher education and develop the state.
“There is nothing wrong with being ambitious what matters is to plan your ambition we have planned to establish a university that will cater and meet the needs of our people.
“The university is prestigiously there to cater for the needs of science and technology development in this country. We want to encourage our people to study science and other technological courses. Education is not about politics in Gombe State, we are all interested in developing the state.”
