The Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has disclosed that there is no more College of Education, Minna with establishment of the newly Abdulkadir Kure University, Minna (AKUM).
He, therefore, directed the Provost of the College, Professor Muhammad Yakubu Auna, and the entire staff to report to the Vice-Chancellor of the new university, Professor Muhammad Aliyu Paiko.
The governor stated this at the maiden matriculation of the 86 students newly admitted to the Faculty of Education in the university.
“Without mincing words, there is no more College of Education standing alone. College of Education, Minna, has been absorbed by Abdulkadir Kure University.
“So, anybody that is working for College of Education Minna yesterday is now a staff of Abdulkadir Kure University, Minna (AKUM). So, the Provost and his entire team will report to the VC of this university. Not just college of education, we are going to have many colleges: College of Agriculture, College of Medicine, College of Engineering, College of Sciences. This is how universities are built,” he said.
He said the university was going to host the Kent State University Study Centre to boost collaboration between the university and ita counterparts outside Nigeria in agricultural research and innovation.
Bago also said the university would house another research institute in collaboration with Brazil, saying that 1 percent of the total revenue of the state would be expended on the institute with a focus on agriculture and innovation.
While congratulating the 86 matriculants, the governor annouced a scholarship of N1 million to each of them and another N500 million to the university management to facilitate the kickstart of the remaining facilities.
He also said the state had secured N15 billion for the construction of Senate Building and student hostels.
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Muhammad Aliyu Paiko, said the institution was established to foster transformative learning that goes beyond traditional ways of learning, where students would imbibe the learning of entrepreneurship, to produce graduates that are innovators and job creators.
He said the university had begun collaborations with critical sectors within and outside Nigeria to drive the dreams behind the establishment of the institution.
He revealed that no student would be allowed to graduate without registering a company of their own with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
The Pro-Chancellor of the university, Prof Mohammed Kuta Yahaya, said the National Universities Commission (NUC) had earlier granted approval of 41 educational related courses to be run in the university, adding that the university had also presented 30 innovative courses to the NUC for approval.
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