The National Universities Commission (NUC) has granted formal approval to the Federal University of Technology, Akure, (FUTA), for the commencement of the Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) programme with effect from the 2020/2021 academic session.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Deputy Director, Corporate Communications of the institution Adebanyo Adegbenro in Akure. 

Adegbenro noted that the approval, according to the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Adamu Rasheed, followed the recommendations of the panel of experts from the commission, which carried out a resource verification visit.

According to Adegbenro, after a painstaking assessment, the leader of the team, Prof. Saliu Yakasai, Provost, College of Medicine, Bayero University Kano, said he was encouraged by FUTA’s determination towards the take-off of the school in record time.

He said FUTA was leading the pace, among other universities of technology in Nigeria, and that there was no doubt that the establishment of the medical programme and medical school will further place the institution among the foremost, amongst its peers, in the country.

Prof. Yakasai urged the university management not to relent in putting up the necessary logistics for the efficient take-off of the school and was optimistic that FUTA will use the medical school to further advance research and learning in Nigeria.

Reacting to the development, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Fuwape, said the report of the resource verification team and the subsequent approval by the NUC is an endorsement of the hard work and structures, both human and material, already put in place for the commencement of the programme.

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu says that the number of universities in the country is too small, given the nation’s population.

He made the comment at the presentation of provisional licences to 20 newly approved private universities by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in Abuja.

With the approval, Nigeria now has 99 private universities, and a total of 197 universities, private and public.

The minister underscored the need to increase the number of universities in the country, taking into consideration the country’s 200 million population.

Adamu, who was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, noted that private universities have contributed to the opening up of admission space for the swelling population of candidates seeking university education in the country.

He said the argument in some quarters that private universities have become too many in Nigeria, is not plausible, noting that comparative figures of universities in other countries show that Nigeria needs more universities.

The universities granted provisional licences are Mudiame University, Irrua, Edo State; James Hope University, Lagos; Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria, Kano; Capital City University, Kano; Ahman Pategi University, Pategi, Kwara State; and University of Offa, Kwara State.

Others are Topfaith University, Mkpatak, Akwa Ibom State; Thomas Adewumi University, Oko-Irese, Kwara State; Maranathan University, Mgbidi, Imo State; Ave Maria University, Piyanko, Nasarawa State and Al-Istiqama University, Sumaila, Kano State.

Also granted provisional approval are Havilla University, Nde-Ikom, Cross River State; Claretian University of Nigeria, Nekede, Imo State; NOK University, Kachia, Kaduna State and Karl-Kumm University, Vom, Plateau State.

Mewar University, Masaka, Nasarawa State; Edusoko University, Bida, Niger State; Philomath University, Kuje, Abuja; Khadija University, Majia, Jigawa State and ANAN University, Kwall, Plateau State were also granted provisional approval.

The Federal Government has disclosed that it will support the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, to resolve the country’s electricity challenge through its Refuse Drives Fuel gasification plant project.

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, made the pledge in Nsukka shortly after inspecting the 500KVA gasification plant built by a team of researchers of the university’s Engineering Department led by Prof. Emenike Ejiogu.

He commended the research team for the plant, which currently supplies the administrative block of the university electricity through organic materials.

He urged other universities to emulate UNN by paying special attention to science and innovation, adding that it would make universities in the country to be ranked among the best globally in future.

Speaking, Vice Chancellor of UNN, Prof. Charles Igwe, commended Onu for the visit, saying it would go a long way to attract government and private sector support to the gasification plant.

Earlier, Ejiogu said the plant was designed and facilitated by the University’s Laboratory of Industrial Electronics, Power Devices and New Energy Systems (LIEPNES), adding that the plant was capable of reducing diesel consumption by up to 60 per cent.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the dissolution of the Governing Councils of the University of Ibadan in Oyo State, and four other Federal universities in the country.

They are University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in Osun State, University of Port Harcourt in Rivers State and Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko in Delta State.

The Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono, announced in a statement in Abuja that the President also approved the reconstitution of the governing councils of the affected universities.

According to the statement, the governing council of the University of Ibadan now has a former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Odigie Oyegun, as chairman, while Dr Masud Kazaure, Abba Yaro, Abubakar Maikafi, and Emeka Nwagbo are members.

Similarly, Dr Lanre Tejuosho is the Chairman of UNILAG governing council, with Dr Aminu Ahmed, Dr Uro Gardner, Chinedu Adindi, and Mustafa Salihu, as members.

The governing council of OAU is chaired by Oscar Udoji, while its members include Captain Bala Jibrin, Eugene Odo, Dr Lateef Babata, and Saidu Bako.

For UNIPORT, its governing council members are Kolo Uzamat, Commodore D. T. Hinga, Mohammed Makarfi, and Ahmed Al-Mustapha, while Senator Andrew Uchendu is the Chairman.

The Nigerian Maritime University also has Dr Elias Courson as Chairman of its governing council and Nelson Alapa, Victor Giadono, Bello Dukku, and Godwin Ananghe as members.

Echono noted that the chairmen and members of the governing councils of the five universities would be inaugurated by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on April 19.

He added that the vice-chancellors of the affected universities were expected to attend the inauguration ceremony which would take place in Abuja, the nation’s capital.