By Laide Akinboade-Oriere
President
Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday, said he was deeply worried over low ranking
of Nigerian universities and pledged to ensure that the lost glory of
the nation's Ivory Tower is restored.
He therefore tasked
the new Executive Secretaries of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund,
TETFund, and National Universities Commission, NUC, Dr. Abdullahi Bichi
Baffa and Professor Abubakar Rasheed respectively to close rank in
ensuring Nigerian universities become globally competitive.
Dr. Abdullahi Bichi
Baffa, who is the newly appointed Executive Secretary of TETFund,
revealed this on his official assumption of Office in Abuja.
Baffa, said
President Buhari's clear directive was for him to work with relevant
stakeholders towards ensuring that Nigerian universities rank among the
best 100 universities in the World.
He said this could
not however be achieved if the culture of impunity that pervaded most of
the agencies in the education sector in the past was allowed to
continue.
He, therefore,
warned the Vice Chancellors and heads of beneficiary tertiary
institutions that the "era of everything goes is over".
He charged all the
heads of beneficiary institutions to ensure judicious utilisation of the
intervention funds allocated to them.
Meanwhile, the
newly appointed Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission,
Professor Prof. Abubakar Rasheed has described as vain the assumption
and air with which many Vice Chancellors of universities carried
themselves as though they are Chief Executive Officers.
Speaking in Abuja
when he assumed duty as the substantive Executive Secretary of the
Commission, Rasheed said it was wrong that many Vice Chancellors thought
that they were CEOs. "They are not Chief Executive Officers," he said.
According to him,
"University administration requires team work and everyone in the system
has a role to play from the driver to the VC" he said .
Rasheed, a former
Vice Chancellor Bayero University Kano, said he was appointed by
President Muhammadu Buhari with specific mandate to ensure that Nigerian
universities were restored to their lost glory, working with relevant
stakeholders.
He pledged to give
welfare of staff of the Commission priority attention by ensuring that
the workers get their salaries, promotion and due allowances as at when
due.
Acting Executive
Secretary of NUC, Prof. Chiedu Mafiana, handed over the mantle of
leadership of the Commission to Rasheed at a brief ceremony attended by
two former Presidents of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU),
Prof. Abdullahi Sule-Kano and Dr Nasir Fagge.
The new NUC boss,
however, disclosed that the immediate past Executive Secretary of NUC,
Prof. Julius Okojie, would properly handover to him (Rasheed) on Friday
while also appealing the staff of the Commission to work together in the
efforts to transform the nation's university system
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