Niger State Gets New University

Gov. Babangida Aliyu of Niger on Wednesday said the establishment of the new University of Education in Minna would tackle the dearth of qualified teachers in public schools.

Aliyu made the remark after signing the bill on the State University of Education into law that establishes the new university at the Government House, Minna.

He said the new university would take off from the site of the College of Education, Minna and would produce the needed teachers in the state.

The university, he added, would also run other specialist programmes in education for the benefit of the northern part of the country.

The governor noted that the state government was prompted to have such a specialised university because of the dearth of qualified teachers, quoting an earlier official report as indicating that

less than 50 per cent of teachers in the North possess professional qualification.

He said the state government would set a deadline for its teachers with some deficiencies to obtain professional certificates.

He reiterated the state government’s commitment to provide quality education to students.

Aliyu also signed two other bills into law, namely the Vision 3:2020 Bill and the Pilgrims' Welfare Commission Bill.

In his remarks, the Speaker, Niger State House of  Assembly, Alhaji Adamu Usman, said the assembly passed 30 bills from 2007 to date.

Usman said the law on the specialised university empowered the government to set aside at least two per cent of its budget for the funding of the university.

He insisted that the establishment of the new university would not affect the running of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University at Lapai.

NAN