The immediate past Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, has opened up on how he declined the offer of a university that offered him N20 million.
Rasheed, a former Vice-Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), had last week announced his voluntary resignation from NUC, three years before the expiration of his tenure.
He had said openly that he wanted to continue lecturing at BUK.
He was BUK VC when he was appointed to head the universities regulatory body by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
But speaking at a reception organized by the university to welcome him back, Prof. Rasheed said he left the position so he would continue lecturing until his retirement age.
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He said, “All my life, the best job I cherish is lecturing. But, along the line, things came up that necessitated me to leave the university environment.
“I left for six years to lead the defunct New Nigeria, but resigned voluntarily for the university, this time also, I left NUC for the university so I coulr retire there, despite having more than three more years to the end of my tenure,” he explained.
The don also said on leaving the NUC, a private university offered to be paying him a monthly salary of 20 million Naira, but he declined because of BUK, which is so dear to him.
Asked why Nigeria witnessed the proliferation of private universities, Prof. Rasheed said the country still needs even more public and private institutions to cater for the annual admission need.
“The ones we have should be expanded, while new ones need to be established because they are never enough,” he said.
Also speaking at the occasion, BUK VC, Prof Sagir Adamu Abbas, who described Rasheed as the architect of modern BUK, said his presence at NUC has helped the university to achieve its presence status.
“As the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Rasheed has helped BUK in many ways, including in connecting us with high profile personalities in Abuja. That is why it is heartbreaking for many of us when he decided to resign before the expiration of his second tenure, but we have to respect his decision. We are glad to have him back to BUK,” Prof Abbas added.
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