Scrapping Of Faculty, Departments Is Government’s Decision, ATBU Clarifies

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) in Bauchi has said the scrapping or abandonment of the faculty of management sciences and other departments of the institutions was not its handiwork, but rather a decision of the federal government.

According to the institution, the scrapping of the said faculty followed the directive by the federal government for all the universities to go back to their initial mandates and ATBU Bauchi is not an exception.

ATBU director of Information,  Mal. Zailani Bappa, revealed this at a press conference in Bauchi yesterday. He said the decision followed last month’s meeting between the minister of education and the governing councils of universities where they were directed to fall back to their initial mandates.

Zailani said, “We have a new administration in place under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Last month the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa invited all the governing councils of federal universities in Nigeria for a meeting”.

“During that meeting, he mentioned to them that a policy decision has been taken by the government, that every university must go back to its mandate. Technology Universities must stick to technology courses. Universities of Agriculture must stick to being Universities of Agriculture, University of Transportation, some of which were introduced, must stick to that”.

It could be recalled that Monday, some aggrieved people of Bauchi State under the aegis of Bauchi State Citizens Forum accused the ATBU Vice Chancellor. Professor Ibrahim Hassan Garba of subverting education in the institution.

The forum at the press conference in Bauchi Monday led by Comrade Abdullahi Yalwa noted this is just one of the many negative consequences of the VC’s plan, which were compelled by the necessity of the matter to bring to the national discourse for the attention and action by all concerned.

“A meeting held just last week with the chapter ASUU in the university where information on this most unwelcome development was relayed to the union as obtained from the VC was a clear testimony to that. It is a backward move because the VC is not an indigene of Bauchi State.

“Our position on the matter is driven by empirical facts, superior arguments and plausible reasoning, especially as we have put both arguments for and against on the objective scale of analysis and the result is that the VC’s position on the matter is ill-motivated, logically incoherent and totally wrong.

“If the current arrangement in terms of the scope and coverage of its academic activities is not only maintained but expanded through making it a conventional university as it happened with Modibbo Adama University Yola, Adamawa State and Joseph Tarka University Makurdi, Benue state to mention but a few”.

Comrade Yalwa, backup by Barrister Jibrin Sa’id Jibrin, also called on the Government of Bauchi State, the traditional institutions, senior citizens and every son and daughter of the state to join the efforts, enrich the conversation, engage all concerned so that a stop is put to the VC’s plans in the best interest of all.

“In particular, the Governor and government of Bauchi state have a major stake in this matter. It is a fact that successive administrations in the state and other senior citizens have contributed and invested greatly in the growth and developmental drive of the state, which brought it to its present level of development.”

Yalwa enumerated some as the like of Alhaji Mahmood Yayale Ahmed, Ajiyan Katagum, Barrister Ahmed Al-Mustapha former Registrar General of the CAC, Alhaji Muhammed Uba Kari Wazirin Bauchi to mention some notable examples, saying the trend should continue forward and must not move backwards.

“As we have had occasions to discuss with some critical stakeholders even before the current issue came about, every genuine lover of education and the progress of our dear state is already involved as part and parcel of this struggle. And by Allah’s grace, we shall succeed. We again plead with the leadership of the university to rescind its ill-motivated plan”, Yalwa concluded.