From Paul Orude Bauchi
President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, has pledged to provide an enabling environment for staff and students of Federal University, Gashua (FUGA) to compete favorably with their contemporaries within and outside the country.
Gashua, the capital of Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State is the hometown of Senator Lawan who is representing Yobe North senatorial district.
Lawan gave the assurance when the Governing Council of FUGA under the leadership of the Chairman, Malam Ibrahim Akuyam, paid him a courtesy call in his office in Abuja recently.
‘This University means a lot to us and we will continue to provide an enabling environment for staff and students,’ Lawan assured. ‘We are conscious of its problems,’ he said.
Lawan disclosed that President Muhammmadu Buhari had approved for the construction of a world class Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Robotic Centre at the university this year.
According to him, money had also been set aside for the construction of staff quartres and a mini-stadium, five kilometres of road and drainages which are expected to commence before the end of 2021.
The President of the Senate revealed that arrangement for the establishment of a more reliable source of power for the university had been reached and advanced stage and work would commence before the end of 2021.
He urged the council to come up with policies and programmes that would ensure the economic and social development of the immediate community so that their voices could be heard and they could compete with their counterpart, from other parts of the country.
‘Develop the people there, so that they can compete with their counterparts from other parts of the country,” he stressed.
Earlier in her remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Maimuna Waziri, said her goal was to put the FUGA at the centre of the world in terms of teaching, learning, and research and community service.
The first female Vice Chancellor of the University, while thanking the President of the Senate for the support and commitment to making FUGA an international standard, stressed that she was keen on the development of world class academic environment research programmes that would help the management of the university address its challenges.
According to her, in order to align with the need to keep pace with global dynamics, the focus of her management team would be in the areas of science, technology, medicine and entrepreneurship development because of their importance to economic development and competitive advantages
She said the management under her leadership was working assiduously on strengthening existing programmes to make them attractive and competitive.
Maimuna, ,a professor of Chemistry, sought the support and the intervention of the Senate President for the actualization of the establishment of the Faculty of Engineering, College of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Environmental sciences and Faculty professionals.
‘The impact will be more profound on the local community especially in addressing our health challenges such as the over four decades chronic kidney diseases in Northern Yobe and the Northeast in particular and Nigeria in general and other ailments, hence the urgent need for the establishment of the College of Medical Sciences,’ she said.