President Bola Tinubu has given his approval for the phased commencement of academic activities at six of the 14 new Universities established during the twilight of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, disclosed this to State House correspondents on Wednesday following a closed-door meeting with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, the initial phase will involve the launching of two universities in the fields of agriculture, two as Colleges of Education, and two focusing on the field of medicine.
He said: “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.
“So, by the time you want to start about 12, 14 institutions at once is a very heavy burden on the finances of government, so that’s why.”
He explained that the government would consider reassessing whether to proceed with other institutions even though a significant number of them are specialised in nature, such as Colleges of Education, Agriculture, and Medicine.
The Minister affirmed that the institutions are strategically aligned with the key mandates and priorities of President Tinubu administration.
“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, Medicine and 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 and the same thing with Agric. So that’s why the government has not stepped down that approval. Instead, the President, in his wisdom, said we stagger their implementation on the grounds of funds.
“We’re starting with about six, two of each; two agric, two colleges of education and then two medicine,” Mamman added.
Some of the Universities established during the said period are David Nweze Umahi Federal University of Medical Sciences, Uburu; Federal University of Transport Daura; Shehu Shagari University of Education, Sokoto; 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 added.
