Niger Governor Inaugurates  Varsity Governing Board

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has inaugurated a 16-man Governing Board for the newly approved Abdulkhadir Kure University of Education in Minna.

The Governing Board has Professor Mohammed Kuta Yahaya as the pro-chancellor, while Professor Muhammad Aliyu Paiko is the first vice-chancellor, and Professor Tsado Jacob became the deputy vice-chancellor.

Governor Bago, who inaugurated the board at the Government House in Minna yesterday challenged the team to hit the ground running and put the university on a high pedestal, assuring them that funding of the institution has already been secured for the take-off of the institution.

Bago also disclosed that a committee has been put in place to look at the drawings made for the expansion and development of the institution, adding that the institution should  be “transformed into a conventional one due to the gap in capacity of the people and children,” and that “there is also the need to have fields like medicine, aviation, science and technology and climate change studied at the university.”

To attract more students into the university Governor Bago disclosed that a scholarship scheme would be introduced for all students from public schools, who obtained five credits, including English and Mathematics, at one sitting to study at the university, restating that a University of Agriculture and Climate Change will be located at Mokwa, while another  University of Technology and Innovation will be located in Zungeru.

He maintained that  the decision  of the administration “to invest heavily” in the IBBU Lapai Teaching Hospital is for it to service all universities within the state that are going to offer  medicine and other medical science-related courses.

The Pro-Chancellor of the university, Professor Yahaya, disclosed that the National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved all the 41 programmes submitted but that only 14 are to be implemented in the 2023/2024  academic session, and that admission will commence soon.

He said the NUC has also approved a 3,000 admission quota, which has been communicated to the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).