Tinubu approves takeoff of six varsities established under Buhari’s tenure

Out of the fourteen new institutions founded in the final days of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, President Bola Tinubu has approved the start of classes at six of them.

Following a meeting behind closed doors with President Tinubu at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, said this.

During the first phase, Prof. Mamman said, two institutions specializing in agriculture, two schools of education, and two medical universities will be established.

In his words, “There are a lot of them; there are probably a dozen or so, if not more. You know that tertiary institutions require a lot of capital, especially during the start-up phase, for infrastructure, hiring staff, and other needs.”

The financial strain on government budgets is immense when attempting to launch 12 or 14 institutions simultaneously.

These institutions are strategically in line with President Tinubu’s administration’s main goals and mandates, the minister confirmed.

Aside from the fact that the majority of them are specialized institutions—colleges of education, agriculture, and medicine—they also support some of the government’s priorities and mandates. Normally, we would have stated we’ll assess whether we should move forward with it, Dr. Mamman continued.

The same is true for agriculture: we will require qualified teachers, who education colleges will supply. The President, in his wisdom, advised that we should space out their implementation based on available funding, which is why the administration has not revoked this approval. There will be two from each of the colleges of agriculture, education, and medicine when we begin with roughly six.

During the aforementioned time frame, several universities were founded, including Admiralty University Ibusa, Delta State; Shehu Shagari University of Education, Sokoto; Federal University of Transport Daura, Katsina; and David Nweze Umahi Federal University of Medical Sciences, Uburu.

Regarding the National Library, which is expected to be finished in 21 months and serves as the country’s depository, the minister said that the President has also given his approval.

“I informed the President of the need of completing the National Library, a national landmark. He said, “He is pleased with the proposal.”