The Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, has concluded plans to establish a Faculty of Computing in addition to the existing computer science programme to boost its ICT competence.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Muhammad Abdulazeez, who disclosed this during the handing over of donated lab equipment by Huawei Technology Company, Tuesday, at the Walya Campus, said interested students can now study computing.
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“Computer science is mostly theoretical and now we have the facilities for practice which we lacked for many years because we put so much emphasis on certificates. What we focus on now is skills acquisition,” he said.
The don explained that the move is part of the determination of the institution not to be left behind in the area of digital economy and other digitization processes, adding that the establishment of an ICT Academy in the varsity would boost ICT competence.
“Our target is to train all our students in computer science, engineering and mechatronics. We want to make it compulsory for almost all the students because there are two certifications, one from Huawei and the other from ATBU,” he added.
Prof. Abdulazeez noted that the Huawei certificate would provide the ability to work anywhere in the world and that they want to make sure that from 200 level all their students keyed in.
He noted that the development would be economically beneficial if the country embraced the ongoing 5G connectivity which needed speedy performance to enhance digital economy delivery of services across the country.
Earlier in his remark, the Country Training Manager of Huawei, Kenneth Igwe, said his organisation had trained over 10,000 students and 4,000 professional instructors across the country.
He also said they were collaborating with Nigerian universities to promote digital connectivity to enhance research and development studies.
Igwe said ATBU had been identified as the digital centre of excellence in the Northeast sub-region where other universities and institutions are to visit for patronage.
