Agbu Kefas has suspended the Vice Chancellor of Taraba State University, Prof. Sunday Bako, and dissolved the institution’s Governing Council with immediate effect over alleged administrative incompetence and persistent industrial actions.
The governor announced the decision during a meeting with members of the Governing Council, management staff, and leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) at the university in Jalingo.
Kefas said recurring strikes had disrupted academic activities and adversely affected more than 20,000 students enrolled at the state-owned institution.
Taraba State University was established in 2008 under the administration of the late Danbaba Suntai.
The governor noted that his administration had taken several measures to stabilise the university, including the constitution of a Governing Council, full funding of salaries and wages, implementation of the new national minimum wage, accreditation and re-accreditation of courses, expansion of infrastructure, and ongoing implementation of the staff pension scheme.
He described the minimum wage being paid at the university as the highest among northern state universities.
Despite the interventions, Kefas expressed concern that industrial actions had continued, attributing the development to what he termed the inability of the management and Governing Council to maintain discipline among staff and students.
“As Visitor to the University, with the mandate to reform and reposition it, I must take painful but necessary decisions to save the institution from drifting into decline,” the governor said.
He consequently directed the immediate dissolution of the Governing Council and ordered the Vice Chancellor to proceed on indefinite suspension.
Kefas also announced plans to appoint a Sole Administrator to oversee the affairs of the university pending further reforms.
In addition, he disclosed that a Personnel Audit Committee would be constituted to screen, verify and document all staff of the institution.
The governor reiterated that his administration had declared a state of emergency in the education sector, introducing free and compulsory education policies aimed at increasing enrolment, improving infrastructure and addressing the challenge of out-of-school children across the state.
He stressed that efforts to improve access to quality education in Taraba would not be compromised.
