Energy Crisis: We Spend N75m Monthly on Electricity, Says BUK VC
Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
The Vice Chancellor of Bayero University Kano (BUK), Professor Sagir Adamu-Abbas, has lamented the high cost of running the institution as a result of the energy crisis in Nigeria, particularly the payment of electricity bill and the purchase of diesel, which he said cost the university approximately N75 million monthly.
This is just as he disclosed that the university has reviewed its 30 percent of the new Core Academic Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) for Nigerian universities to boost the skill acquisition of students and employability for graduates from the institution.
Adamu-Abbas stated this when he received the executive officials of the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN) and some members of the association at the main campus of the university.
The vice chancellor revealed that the bill for electricity alone in the school is about N35 million monthly while thHe said the management was forced to increase the registration because it was practically impossible to provide social services to a student population of 45,000, including a postgraduate and staff population of 5,000 plus-both teaching and non-teaching.
According to him, “So, we found ourselves in a very difficult condition to increase the fee from N37,000 and N40, 000 to about N95,000. When we looked around, we discovered that mostly our students are not from wealthy backgrounds, they are mostly poor, so it took us some time to arrive at the figure, and we did after consultation with the students and stakeholders.”
He maintained that the increment was done in full consultation with staff unions, including members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), among others, and students.
The VC added that the university authorities have also introduced various measures to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal on the part of the staff and ameliorate the impact of the recent registration fee hike on the part of the students.
He expressed concerns about high levels of graduate unemployment in Nigeria among whom some industries and employers of labour described as “unemployable.”
Adamu-Abbas noted that in order to effectively address the challenge, universities in Nigeria should redesign their curricula, saying the new core curriculum developed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) for Nigerian universities gives 30 per cent to institutions to design based on their peculiarities.
