President Bola Tinubu’s approval of six of the fourteen new institutions founded in the final days of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration means they are now able to start classes.
Following a private meeting with President Tinubu at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, said this.
According to Prof. Mamman, the first phase will see the opening of two universities specializing in agriculture, two colleges of education, and two medical schools.
He claims: “You know tertiary institutions are highly capital-intensive; they need a lot of money, especially at that take-off stage, for infrastructure, staff recruitment, and all other needs. There are very many of them, probably about a dozen of them, if not more than a dozen or fourteen.”
“It puts a tremendous strain on government finances by the time you want to start about 12, 14 institutions at once.”
The minister confirmed that these organizations strategically support the main goals and directives of President Tinubu’s administration.
“Normally, we would have said we’ll review whether we should go ahead with that,” Dr. Mamman continued. “But most of them are specialized institutions; colleges of education, agriculture, and medicine; they are institutions that will support some of the mandates, the priority areas of this government.”
We will require qualified educators, which educational institutions will supply; the same is true for the agricultural sector. For this reason, the government has not revoked the approval; rather, the President, in his wisdom, has advised that we implement the changes gradually based on available money. About six will begin, two from each of the colleges of agriculture, education, and medical.
During that time, several universities were founded, including Admiralty University Ibusa, Delta State; Shehu Shagari University of Education, Sokoto; Federal University of Transport Daura, Katsina; and David Nweze Umahi Federal University of Medical Sciences, Uburu.
The minister stated that the President has also given his approval for the National Library to be finished as the country’s depository, with a completion date of 21 months.
“I briefed the President on the importance of finishing the National Library, a national landmark. He said, “He is pleased with the proposal.
