By Abdullahi Idris, Bauchi
Bauchi State Citizens Forum has strongly condemned the reported plan by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa university, Bauchi to shut down some faculties, courses and departments; a move they described as regressive, intellectually weak and anti-development.
The group made it stance known at a press conference held at Bauchi NUJ secretariat on Monday.
Addressing the journalists, Comrade Abdullahi Yalwa and Barrister Jibrin Said Jibrin, who spoke on behalf of the forum, described the proposed decision as a direct assault on educational aspirations of Bauchi state citizens and a sabotage of ongoing efforts to transform the institution into a conventional university.
The forum, a coalition of progressive, non-political groups in Bauchi state, expressed deep concern over ATBU administration’s alleged plan to close down key faculties such as management sciences, and halt resources verification for nearly 50 new degree programs introduced under the new administration.
“This is not an internal issues, it’s an attack on Bauchi State’s educational access and socio-economic development”, said Dr Yalwa.
The steps taken by the current Vice Chancellor, Professor Ibrahim Hassan Garba, are backwards, ill-motivated and threaten to reverse decades of hard-won progress, according to the forum.
The proposed downsizing was recently communicated to the Academic Staff Union of the Universities, and the Students Union Government, sparking alarm among stakeholders.
The group warned that the decision would deny thousands of prospectives students; many from Bauchi state access to quality tertiary education
The forum also raised questions over what it described as the misguided leadership of the current VC, noting that Professor Garba is the first non-indigene to head the university since the tenure of widely recognised and respected Professor Abubakar Sani Sambo.
The forum equally praised Senator Shehu Buba of Bauchi South for spearheading legislative efforts to transform ATBU Bauchi into its full-pledged conventional university, similar to the models adopted by Moddibo Adama University Yola and Joseph Tarka University Makurdi.
The forum also commended the chairman of the ATBU Governing council, Air Commodore Emmanuel Jakada for his maturity and willingness to engage stakeholders on the matter.
“We urge him to continue to apply wisdom in steering the university through these turbulent times”, the forum noted.
The forum equally calls on Governor Bala Mohammad and well-meaning and notable Bauchi elders, including former officials such as Mahmood Yayale Ahmad and Barrister Ahmed Al-Mustapha, the group also stressed that the need for a unified response to halt what they termed the dangerous reversal of educational gains”
The forum concluded with a passionate appeal to the federal government, particularly the minister of education, Dr Tunde Aluasa Maruf, to immediately intervene to protect the academic integrity and the future of the ATBU.