BUK and the challenges of academic performance Letters to the editor Published on Sunday, 29 June 2014, Written by Mustapha Gide Barely a month ago, I started working at the Directorate of General Administration, an arm of the Office of the Registrar, Bayero University, Kano (BUK). As someone who had taken a career in journalism for about 20 years before joining the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria as a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication for three years, I was so bland on the future of education in Nigerian universities some years back, that the numerous problems bedevilling the system had scared me. I had lost the hope that any Nigerian university could fall within the best 1, 000 in the world. However, I have come to realise that if Nigerian universities work hard and are properly transformed, some of them could become one of the best in the world. And BUK can be one of them. It is possible. I was convinced that it is possible when the vice chancellor of the university, Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, got a standing ovation during the 46th Congregation of the ivory tower. This is quite rare in Nigerian universities these days when merit and integrity have given way to selfishness. Nobody, including the academics, frowned at the standing ovation. Not a few people are surprised that the vice chancellor is transforming the university in the face of meagre resources. It is a known fact that Nigerian universities have been suffering as a result of the recent disagreement between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the federal government over proper funding. Unfortunately, the federal government has breached the agreement that ended that strike. But BUK is not discouraged; it is on a steady onward move despite challenges. In the last two years, BUK has created new undergraduate, masters’ and PhD programmes, as well as new centres, departments and faculties. Also, to ensure quality and specialisation, Medicine is now made up of five faculties. The vice chancellor said, “In the next eight months, all the new faculties will be completed. The Department of Biological Sciences has been split into three, while the Department of Mathematical Sciences now has the Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science respectively “The Department of English now has Department of English and Literary Studies. Out of it we created the Department of Foreign Languages, which now offers degree in French. And in the next two years it will offer degrees in Chinese. Also, from English we created the Department of Theatre Arts and Film Studies. We further created the Department of Linguistics from the Department of Nigerian Languages. In the Faculty of Engineering we established the Department of Mechanical Engineering. There is a Telecommunication degree programme in the Department of Electrical Engineering. The Department of Chemical and Petro-Chemical Engineering is under construction. And we want to admit students next year. “The Department of Geography is migrating to be the Foundation of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences. We introduced five new degree programmes, namely, Banking and Finance, Criminology, Entrepreneurship, International Relations and Public Administration, etc.’’ Furthermore, it was gathered that the university management is no longer interested in the construction of 500-seater lecture theatre because, by next year, no lecture hall will exceed a maximum of 40 students. The tradition where a lecturer faces 500 to 1, 000 students in a lecture hall will no longer be allowed in the university. To achieve this, the university has recruited young, talented and qualified lecturers. Presently, over 400 lecturers are on fellowship to different universities across the world, and 208 are at different stages of completing their PhD and Masters’ degrees. Under its scholarship programme, the Kano State government has also sent many lecturers abroad for postgraduate studies. More so, it was revealed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is implementing a N10 billion seven-storey Centre of Excellence, which is the first of its kind in Africa. Other projects are being sponsored by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, General T Y Danjuma, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, Alhaji Abdusamad Isyaka Rabi’u, Hon Farouk Lawal and Sulaiman kawu Sumaila, Senator Hayatudeen Gwarzo, Julius Berber Nigeria Plc, amongst others. It is hoped that the efforts of the vice chancellor and his men would place the university on the right map among the best universities in the world. Mustapha Gide sent this piece from Kano
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 21:44:49 +0000
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