President Bola Tinubu has given the approval for the
commencement of academic activities of six out of the 14 new universities
established in the last days of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, made this known on
Wednesday, after a closed-door meeting with President Tinubu at the State
House, Abuja.
Prof Mamman stated that the initial phase will involve the
launch of two universities in the field of agriculture, two as colleges of
education, and two focusing on the field of medicine.
According to him: “There are very many, probably about a
dozen of them, if not more than a dozen or 14, that’s the number and you know
tertiary institutions are highly capital-intensive, they need a lot of money,
especially at that take-off stage, for infrastructure, staff recruitment and
all other needs.
“By the time you want to start about 12, 14 institutions at
once, it is a very heavy burden on the finances of government.”
The minister affirmed that these institutions are
strategically aligned with the key mandates and priorities of President
Tinubu’s administration.
Dr Mamman added: “Ordinarily, we would have said we’ll
review whether we should go ahead with that, but most of them are specialised
institutions; colleges of education, agriculture and medicine; they are
institutions that will support some of the mandates, the priority areas of this
government.
“We will need trained teachers, which colleges of education
will provide; the same thing with agriculture. That’s why the government has
not stepped down that approval; instead, the President, in his wisdom, said we
should stagger their implementation on the ground of funds. We’re starting with
about six, two each of agriculture, colleges of education and medicine.”
Some of the universities established during the said period
are David Nweze Umahi Federal University of Medical Sciences, Uburu; Federal
University of Transport Daura, Katsina; Shehu Shagari University of Education,
Sokoto; and Admiralty University Ibusa, Delta State.
The minister mentioned that the President also approved the
completion of the National Library which has been projected to be completed in
21 months as the nation’s depository.
“On the National Library, a national monument, I briefed the
President about the need to get it completed. He is happy with the
proposition,” he affirmed.
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