Bill To Make ATBU Conventional University Scales Second Reading

The Senate has passed a Bill for an Act to amend the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Act for second reading.

The bill removes the restrictive term “Technology” from the university’s name and status, thereby converting it from a specialised University of technology to a conventional university.

As stated in the bill, the intent is to empower the citadel of learning to offer a full range of academic disciplines in the sciences, humanities, law, and medical fields.

In his lead debate on the bill’s general principles, Senator Shehu Umar (Bauchi South) said that Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, was established in 1980 as one of the pioneer Universities of Technology to promote technical and engineering education.

According to him, however, the university has evolved and diversified its academic portfolio over the decades, running degree programmes in Agriculture, Education, Management Sciences, and Environmental Design, among others. However, its enabling law still restricts it to the narrow legal status of a “University of Technology”, creating inconsistencies between the law and the institution’s academic practice.

He said: “The objects of this amendment are to:- Make it a conventional university; empower the university to offer courses and conduct research in all academic disciplines; ensure equity and parity with other federal universities operating under similar conditions; enhance collaboration, accreditation, and international recognition for the institution; and expand access to higher education in the North-East zone and Nigeria at large.

“You may wish to know that similar amendments have been carried out in the following universities: Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, and Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, which was renamed Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University.

“These precedents demonstrate that such transformations are both lawful and progressive.

“This Bill is not a radical innovation but a necessary rationalisation. It brings the law in line with reality. This institution has already evolved beyond its specialised roots and now deserves the legal freedom to grow as a full-fledged, comprehensive university.

“It honours the legacy of Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Nigeria’s first Prime Minister, whose name the university bears, and whose vision of inclusive education and national development remains timeless.

“The Bill seeks to resolve that contradiction by formally redesignating the institution as a conventional university, aligning its nomenclature, governance, and mandate with its current operations and future aspirations”.

After an exhaustive debate, the Senate passed it for a second reading. It mandated that its committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND hold a public hearing and report back within four weeks.