2027: Over 600 Northern Lecturers Endorsed Tinubu Based On Verifiable Data – Kaduna State Varsity VC

Professor Abdullahi Ibrahim Musa is the Vice Chancellor of Kaduna State University. In this interview with AZA MSUE, Musa explained why over 600 lecturers across the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recently endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second-term bid.

You attended the endorsement meeting and read the communique on behalf of lecturers. Were you aware that the meeting was about endorsing President Tinubu?

The meeting did not make this clear. It stated that it was an avenue for academics to come together to identify specific data, analyse it using a systematic methodology, and then provide an analysis and recommend the way forward.

It’s a combination of lecturers from all 19 northern states and Abuja to discuss issues related to democracy, governance, and the seven-point agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and then to provide analysis and move forward. The endorsement was based on his impressive achievements and performance in office.

We have to base everything we say on what we have on the ground, and that means data and figures. A lot of data has been collected, and an analysis of that data has been conducted. We concluded that, if you look at the infrastructural developments, NELFUND has improved TETFund’s interventions.

Even in the area of infrastructure?

If you look at issues related to infrastructure development, such as railway construction, the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road network that has persisted for several years, and the downward trend in food prices, you understand.

From the time he came in to now, we are talking about the low prices of food. Academics are known to base their actions or inactions on the business of facts and figures. And we are not saying that if anyone has data that contradicts what we have analysed, it is their own opinion. Over 600 academics in the 19 Northern states and the FCT endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term in office.

What was the outcome of the data analysis?

During the meeting, a lot of data was presented, including sectoral data on infrastructure development, education, and agriculture, to name a few. If you look at education, the Federal Government has spent billions of naira in support.

And if you look at NELfund, in my university alone, our students received over one billion naira in support. In terms of infrastructural development in education, Kaduna State University has received substantial support from TETFund and the National Sports Commission, to mention just a few.

Are you saying that, with what you stated above as achievements of President Tinubu, is enough ground for over 600 northern lecturers to endorse him for a second term?

If 600 lecturers have their voices, individually and collectively, and if any person has a voice that is contrary to the voices of the 600 lecturers present, that person is free to speak up.

What is your take on Nigerians’ reactions, including those of the ADC and ASUU? The conference participants were not speaking for or on behalf of the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities.