Why Niger State University of Education, first of its kind in the North, is yet to take off two years after NUC’s approval

From John Adams, Minna

Since the National Universities Commission (NUC) granted provisional licence, two years ago, to the proposed Niger State University of Education to commence academic activities, nothing has been heard about its take-off.

In April 2015, a team of inspectors from the NUC, led by the Deputy Director in charge of accreditation, Dr. Bello Kumo, undertook a facilities tour of the proposed university site to ascertain its level of preparedness.

The facilities inspected included lectures theatres, hostel accommodation, (male and female), e-library centre completely equipped with internet facilities, sports complex, science laboratories, staff offices, staff quarters accommodation,multipurpose halls, micro-teaching laboratory, the senate building, fleet of vehicles and internal road networks then under construction.

And to think of the amount of money that was sunk into the construction of these facilities. For instance, the university clinic was constructed at the cost of N36 million by MDG (Millennium Development Goal) in the state, the university mini-stadium at the cost of N50 million, the university male hostel at N100 million, the micro teaching laboratory was constructed and equipped at the cost of N160 million and the university multipurpose hall at N140 million.

The University Senate building was constructed at the cost of N250 million, four large classrooms for N200 million, home economic laboratory at N13.5 million and the university home management flat at N21million.

At the end of the two-day tour of the facilities, the NUC team did not hesitate to grant it provisional licence for a formal take-off as the 41st state-owned university and 142nd Nigerian university because of the “state-of-the-art” facilities provided by the government.

Of hopes raised and dashed

Two years after, the present state administration is yet to give a go-ahead for the commencement of academic activities in this specialized university, the first of its kind in the entire north. According to a source close to the government, if the disposition of the present administration towards the take-off of the institution is anything to go by, the idea is as good as dead despite the priority it places on education.

“I think the delay is because the Governor said the state did not have the resources to run two universities, and again I think the whole thing has been politicized so I am afraid the university may not see the light of the day.”

The idea by the immediate past administration to establish the specialized university was informed by the dearth of adequate, qualified, competent and motivated teaching force in the state.  The shortage of qualified teachers to teach at the post-primary schools across the state, it was believed, accounted for the mass failure of state indigeneous candidates in both the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) exams.

Defending the decision of the government to establish the university, the former governor, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu lamented that all the states in the northern part of the country could not boast of 50% qualified teachers to man their primary and post primary schools.

This, he explained, has led to mass failure of students in final examinations like WAEC and NECO, assuring that the University of Education will attempt to bridge the gap by training people in other programmes.

In Niger State, for example, out of the 6,000 teachers employed in the post-primary schools, 4,000 is said to be either without the relevant minimum teaching qualification or with fake certificates.

According to available records from Niger State Teachers Registration Council, out of the 2,000 teachers said to be qualified and teaching in the post-primary schools across the state, 1,200 of them are doing so with the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE).

Babangida Aliyu promised then that when the university becomes fully operational, the government will set deadline for unqualified teachers in the state to be certificated adding that the country has to be more serious about educating its children. Dr. Aliyu said that the University of Education to be located at the present site of the Niger State College of Education, Minna, will provide an avenue for the training of teachers not only for primary and secondary schools in the state but for the entire northern Nigeria where there is, at present, no such institution.

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Why the varsity is yet to take off

To ensure a smooth and speedy take-off of the university after the NUC accreditation, Babangida Aliyu whose administration mooted idea for the establishment of the university approved the release of N500 million as take-off grant. In addition, he appointed Prof. Farouk Abdulraheed Haruna, the current Provost of the state-owned college of education, as the pioneer Vice Chancellor.

A letter of appointment signed by the then secretary to the state, Idris NdakoKpaki reads in part: “acting on the power conferred on him by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the law establishing the Niger State University of Education, No. 21 of 2013, the Governor of Niger State, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu has approved your appointment as the Vice Chancellor of the University with effect from January 1, 2015.”

At the inception of the present administration, the state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, during an inspection tour of the university to see the level of preparedness for its take-off, expressed satisfaction with the level of work done. He admitted that the establishment of the university would address the problem of lack of qualified teachers in the state, adding that despite the dwindling resources of the state, the government will support its take-off.

According to the governor, “the state government cannot afford to import qualified teachers from outside the state any more as there is lack of qualified teachers nationwide. We will rather encourage the take-off of the university in order to serve as the training ground for our teachers to improve the standard of education in the state”.

The governor also disclosed that although since the inception of his administration, he has received a number of suggestions as to whether the state has the resources to accommodate and finance two universities, “from what I have seen, the University will no doubt add value to teachers education in the state.”

The VC’s briefing and appeal

Briefing the governor on its readiness, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Haruna, said that no fewer than 180 lecturers made up of masters and PhD holders have been recruited for the commencement of academic programmes. He added that the university is only waiting for a green light from the government.

While appealing to the governor not to allow the establishment of the university to end up on a drawing board, he maintained that the seriousness of this challenge can be seen in the acute shortage of qualified teachers in primary and secondary schools across the state.

Prof. Haruna told the governor that the necessary facilities and personnel required for the take-off have been put in place, adding that what the university only requires from the government is the upgrading of salaries of the lecturers from what they earned while teaching at the NCE level, since according to him, they will form 90 per cent of lecturers already penciled down for employment.

He also let the governor know that the state college of education that gave birth to the proposed university had played host as satellite campus of ABU Zaria and Uthman Dan Fodio University, Sokoto, adding that out of the 23 programmes being offered by the two universities, 22 of them have been accredited. In addition, he pointed out that the university has concluded arrangements to establish partnerships with the University of Education in Ghana and Malaysia University of education so as to enhance its ranking among top universities of education in the world.

He also revealed that the German government and the European Union have offered to contribute €200,000 (about N60 million each) for the establishment of a world-class woodwork technology laboratory for the university. Though the total cost of the laboratory was put at €500,000 (N165 million), the university will source for the remaining €100,000 (N33 million).

A committee and its recommendations

Despite all these, the governor decided to set up a committee headed by a former Commissioner for Education in the state, Hajia Dije Jibrin Bala, to examine the viability or otherwise of the university. At the end of its assignment, the committee recommended that the government should go ahead with the proposed university as it would be viable and in the best interest of the development of education in the state and the country.

While turning in its report to the governor, the committee specifically observed that if the state-owned Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University (IBBU), Lapai, could have over N900m unspent money in its account, the university of education would be in a position to also generate enough money to take care of its activities.

The committee told the governor that the IBB University was capable of standing on its own but suggested that government should carry out an auditing of accounts of all tertiary institutions in the state. Hajia Bala pointed out that the committee had observed some level of wastages at IBBU that necessitates an audit of all institutions of higher learning in the state.

Governor Bello acknowledged that from the committee’s findings Niger State University of Education can stand on its own. “Aside from her internally generated revenue, large chunk of money to be given to the university should be for capital projects,” he added.