A crisis is brewing at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, over an alleged plan by the management to phase out all faculties and programmes not related to science and technology.
The Bauchi State Citizens Forum, a coalition of professors, lawyers and civil society activists, raised the alarm at a press conference on Tuesday in Bauchi.
Leader of the group, Dr Abdullahi Yelwa, said a recent meeting between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the institution’s management confirmed the development.
“It is clear that ATBU’s leadership is considering closing faculties such as Management Sciences, which will deny thousands of prospective students, especially those from Bauchi State, the chance to acquire university education,” he said.
However, ATBU management dismissed the allegation as unfounded.
The Director of Information and Public Relations, Mr Zailani Bappa, told newsmen at the Press Centre of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Bauchi that the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ibrahim Hassan, had no plan to scrap any faculty or academic programme.
Bappa explained that the controversy stemmed from a meeting convened by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, where all Vice-Chancellors and Governing Council Chairmen of federal universities were directed to ensure strict adherence to their founding mandates.
“As you know, ATBU was established as a technology-based university. Over time, other management-related courses were introduced. Now, the Federal Government insists that such universities must return to their original mandate. This is not the Vice-Chancellor’s decision but a directive that must be implemented,” he clarified.
He also said funding for the Directorate of Distance Learning had been suspended because most of its programmes were management-related, stressing that it would be wasteful to continue under the new policy direction.
Bappa appealed to stakeholders for understanding and urged them to support the move by Sen. Shehu Buba Umar, representing Bauchi South, to amend the law establishing ATBU so it could offer a wider range of courses like a conventional university.
“Unless the law is amended, there is nothing anyone can do to stop the process of reverting to the original mandate,” he said.
