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Towards the commencement of Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, Kaduna State, the State Governor, Uba Sani on Friday handed over handover the certificate of occupancy covering 270 hectares of land to the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Education.
At the presentation,
the governor who commended President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, the Ministers of Education and Permanent Secretary for their unwavering commitment and support for the take off of the institution, assured that the C-of-O of the land would be out within seven days.
Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Olatunji Alausa who expressed joy at the choice of the name, Federal University of Applied Sciences by the Governor and the Senator, Sunday Marshall Katung assured that the new university will commence academic activities by September, 2025 as budgetary approvals have been given for it's take-off.
He said "We will be offering courses in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, applied sciences in areas of applied mathematics, computers, AI and environmental studies. And I commend the Governor and the Senator by choosing this university to be the Federal University of Applied Sciences.
"When I heard it, I was so happy. It fitted into our own plan. One of the number one six-focus areas that we identify as part of our National Educational Sector, Renewal Initiative, STEM.
"Advancing and expanding STEM; Science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical services. Thank you for contributing to expand our number one priority area.
"We already have the National Assembly approved the budget, the overhead budget, and capital budget already approved in the 2024-2025 budget.
"We have also made a commitment to the Governor and the Senator that this university will admit the first set of students this academic year of 2025. And I don't have any doubt. His Excellency, please be rest assured, the students will start this year. I will make sure that the university also gets its Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) allocation this year as well," the Minister said.
He went on "We are going to be witnessing the handover of the certificate of occupancy from the Kaduna State Government to the Federal Ministry of Education for the site of the Federal University of Applied Sciences in Kachia.
"Over 200 hectares of land will be given by Kaduna State Government, transferred to the Federal Government via the Federal Ministry of Education so that we now have the full ownership of this university.
"That's what we're talking about. And more importantly, the Governor said, he will get the C of O ready in seven days, and he met his words. That is commitment. That is service to humanity.
"Everybody knows the story of the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia Southern Kaduna. The Vice President, Kashim Shetima, worked night and day to get us to where we are today. Worked with the Governor, worked with the Senator, Bishop Kukah and several community leaders in Southern Kaduna.
"And the Vice President had the full support of President Bola Tinubu as he was going ahead each step of the way because Mr. President is a fervent believer in human capital development When we talk about human capital development, we're talking about education, health, social protection. And this President, like no other President in the history of our country, has committed the highest amount of budgetary allocation to each sector of human capital development."
Governor Uba Sani said the new university is very special to his state because of the initial courses that have been spelled out by the Minister of Education.
"We believe that science is something that is very important, very critical for the development of Kaduna. I also want to thank our Vice President Kashim Shetima. He has been with us from the beginning. He has also really helped us in reaching out to the relevant stakeholders, ensuring that we have a smooth transition to this level.
"I also want to thank the Senator representing Southern Kaduna federal constituency, Senator
Sunday Marshall Katung, because he has done a lot. I know the importance of having a Senator that has the interests of his people at heart. He moved the motion, he sponsored the bill.
"Most importantly, our President is someone who believes in education. That is the reason why he was able to quickly move everything to the level of the Executive Council and express approval. That is why we are sitting here today.
"Most of my thanks have to go to the Minister of Education, my brother. I want to thank you, not only for this university, but for your work and your efforts in repositioning education in Nigeria.
My thanks go to the Permanent Secretary and the Minister for State for Education.
"Because for us, education is very important. It's the only thing you can give to everyone, both the children of the poor and the rich, for them to have something in their lives. For us, education in Kaduna is the number one priority in our state.
"I have been following what you are doing, I have been following your programmes, your efforts, and I will support you, I can tell you that.
"We need synergy between the federal government and sub-national for us to succeed. I believe education, most importantly at the basic level, is what is key. While you are doing your best at the level of tertiary education, we need to support you by ensuring that we have good education at the level of grassroots.
"Particularly, the basic education, that is primary school and secondary school, which are the most critical. And in Kaduna, I can tell you here that since I was elected, we have reduced tremendously the number of out-of-school children in Kaduna.
"When we came in, we had about 580,000 out-of-school children.But today, because of our efforts, our support in the area of education, we have reduced the numbers only to about 250,000. It's still a work in progress," the Governor stressed.
According to the Governor; " I'm also happy that you are doing a lot in supporting our other institutions. Kaduna State University has benefited a lot in terms of their intervention. And I'm happy that you are also going to look at our Federal University of Applied Sciences because such interventions are very critical and very important for us.
"Again, I want to also draw your attention to the fact that it is important also to partner particularly in the area of trying to look at the level of quality of our institutions. In terms of facilities, teachers, because no matter how much you build these institutions, if you don't have adequate and qualified lecturers, we may not be able to succeed. So this is an area I think we need to invest a lot and look at it from time to time.
"Like I said, we are here with the letter of occupancy which is about 270 hectares of land. And I want to also assure you that time to time I'll be coming here to talk to you and partner."
The Minister for State for Education, Dr. Suwaiba Said Ahmad commended the governor for his initiative as well as the efforts of all stakeholders who worked tiredlessly for the success story of the new university.
Earlier, Senator Sunday Marshall Katung thanked the ministers, the permanent secretary and other stakeholders for their roles in actualizing the goal.
" I must single out my Governor for the role he has played so far, even in keeping his promise to bring forth this certificate of occupancy for the university today.This is another first of its kind, and to this I say udos to our hardworking and industrious Governor."