A bill seeking to convert the Nigeria Navy University known as Admiralty University, Ibusa, Delta State, into a conventional university, has passed second reading on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Presenting the Bill before the passage, sponsor of the bill, Yusuf Adamu Gagdi from Plateau State said the passage of the bill into law will grant the institution full legal status to operate without any hindrance.

Gagdi said “This Bill seeks to establish the Admiralty University of Nigeria, Ibusa as conventional university with selected programmes, limited and focused faculties to promote scholarship, research and other means of advancement of knowledge and its practical application to military hardware and software, and provide an opportunity of acquiring a higher and liberal education in Nigeria.”

The lawmaker said the University would offer courses in military policy, logistics and strategy, as well as basic and applied sciences and arts.

Other areas are engineering, environmental and social sciences, education, agriculture, medical sciences, and any other field of study approved by the Senate of the University.

Gagdi, who is the Chairman House Committee on Navy said the institution would also provide special training courses whether leading to university distinctions or not for such persons as may be prescribed, conduct research in any field as may be prescribed or directed, arranging conferences, seminars, workshops and like activities and performing any other function as may be conferred on it by Statute.

The objective will be to provide facilities for teaching, learning and training in order to ensure that students  obtain the advantage of a higher and liberal education.

It will also promote research and other means of advancement of knowledge and its practical application to military hardware and software, encourage and promote scholarship and conduct research in selected fields of learning and human endeavour including entrepreneurship skills.

Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Jos chapter, says that its members will henceforth boycott all postgraduate activities in the institution.

Chairman of ASUU in the university, Associate Prof. Lazarus Maigoro, stated this in a notice of withdrawal issued on Wednesday in Jos.

He said that the decision was premised on the refusal of the university management to implement the sharing formula that would take care of payment of the lecturers taking courses at postgraduate level, as approved by the university’s council in 2016.

Maigoro said that the union had, in August 2015, written to ASUU President and copied the school management, reminding them of the issue, adding, however, that nothing had since been done on it.

In a statement seen by journalists, Maigoro said “Our National Executive Council (NEC), at its meeting of May 27, held at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Akwa, approved the request of our branch to withdraw all services from PG programmes, with effect from June 20.

“The approval was granted due to refusal of the university to implement the Council- approved 2016 PG sharing formula for paying teaching of PG courses, which is a product of the 2016 MoU which our union signed with the university management.

“By this notice, our members will not participate in teaching and supervision of theses and dissertations, examinations, seminars, defence of any kind, whether at PG school, faculties, departments and units, mark scripts, compile PG results and so on.

he added that all members are hereby directed to comply, as sanctions shall be applied on any violator.

Maigoro said that a special monitoring committee had been constituted to ensure compliance by members, toward attaining what he described as “critical welfare issue”.