Return of a committed academic
Iwas very elated when I came across a press release by the DG Media and Communication, Kano State stating the re-appointment of Professor Shehu Alhaji Musa as the substantive Vice Chancellor of Kano University of Science and Technology Wudil.
According to the release the appointment is for a single term of five years effective from Monday 8th 2018. I naturally became interested in the news with the university being my alma mater. It should be noted that it didn’t come as a surprise to me given the fact that his reputation precedes him.
I learnt that he categorized his plans upon resumption of duty into three namely; short term (under one year), medium term (above one year to three years) and long term (three to five years).
Among the short plans, the most critical, from my point of view of course are the commissioning of a staggering 35 projects, completion of the 2nd phase of the university main library, the conclusion of the second retreat of the university and vigorous pursuance of all pledges by the Chancellor and other philanthropists to logical conclusions amongst others.
On the other hand, the medium term plans include continuous pursuance of 500 hectares of land mass expansion earlier started, continuous pursuance of private business partnership between the university and modern integrated farms for the realization of NGN500m agricultural investment, relocation of all linkages and collaborations hitherto started numbering about 16, establishment of faculties of pharmaceutical and veterinary sciences and so on.
The most attention catching plan is the establishment of Faculty of Medical Sciences which is amongst the long term plans. The need for medical personnel cannot be overemphasized with doctor-patient ratio currently 1:6000 in Nigeria. Another plan under this category is the upgrade of nine institutes of the university to degree awarding institutions.
The few stated plans should make any education- loving person extremely excited. Another institute on a path to greatness is Kano College of Arts and Remedial Studies under the newly appointed provost Dr Sanusi Ahmad Yakubu. Anyone who went through his five points agenda (consoliation, gap-bridging, expansion and ITC development, academic excellence and internally generated revenue) will certainly know that the appointment was based on merit.
Finally I pray to Allah to make it very easy for these Academics in discharging their duties. I also pray that Kano becomes an exceptional educational hub amongst its peers.
Farouk Muhammad Danyaro, Kano.