• FUDMA Success story
  

Katsina City News: Kindly tell us your achievements since you became the Vice Chancellor of Federal University Dutsinma for the second time.

Vice Chancellor: Since assumption of office in the past three and a half years, I was able to stabilize the system. When I came on board there was a lot of division between staff and students. But with the help of God we are able to stabilize, settle scores, settle people that have varying views and make them to understand that this is where we should build academic excellence. We were able to do that and now people are happy and united.

In terms of academic programs we were able to make sure that we have a system where we follow the calendar strictly. As at today we have finished the session and we are planning to open for a new session by the end of October. I think this is the only university or one among the very few that maintain calendar for the university system as approved by the National University Commission NUC.

When I assumed office to date we are able to increase the number of undergraduate programs to more than 90 and postgraduate program to more than 60 and all of them have been given full accreditation by the NUC. We have introduced many new programs also which will be of economic benefit to Katsina state and Nigeria as a whole.

In terms of staff development we have sent more than 100 staff to further their studies to enhance academic excellence. These are the major things I have done within the years.

Katsina City News: In terms of infrastructure, what have you achieved so far?

Vice Chancellor: In terms of this we have done better than any other VC that has come into the university. If you go round here you will see new academic buildings coming up and if you go to the main campus you will see new centres and faculties being built, many hostels being built. As at now in the take off campus we are building more than three female hostels for our female students and in our main campus we are building more than four including many classes, many auditoriums and many faculty buildings are there.

If you compare this with my three years in office and the years the university was established. I’m sure you will see quiet clear demarcation of our performance.

Katsina City News: What is the contribution of TetFund to the University, how much did it contribute?

Vice Chancellor: TetFund has been intervening, you know it is an intervention fund. It has been intervention in building many of our centres and faculties and they are the main source of staff development. They give more than 100 million each year for staff development which our staff are enjoying.

So in terms of staff development, library facilities, internet facilities and physical infrastructure TetFund is doing well honestly.

Katsina City News: Can you shed more light on how you have improved the welfare of staff in the university by employing both academic and non academic staff?

Vice Chacellor: The manpower of the university I think is okay for now. Because of the new programs we have established we had to look for more experts. As you have witnessed we are doing interviews for staff that will occupy various positions in the new programs that we have established. We have different universities and different faculties that were established in the last three years.

We have for example faculty of health sciences, faculty of law, faculty of engineering. All these are new programs established by myself during my second coming. Today we are conducting interviews to fill vacancies in those faculties.

In terms of staff development we have more than 150 staff right now in various universities in Nigeria and abroad studying to further their education so that we can have competent people to man our programs.

Katsina City News: What about the school of health you are trying to achieve in the state, the country and Africa at large?

Vice Chancellor: We were able to establish the College of Health Sciences for the last three years and the students are in their second year. We are conducting admission for another set. We have programs like nursing, physiotherapy, anatomy, physiology, radiography and medical lab sciences. This will help Katsina state and the country in general in filling vacancies in these areas which are scarce.

I don’t think if you leave Katsina you have to reach Sokoto where they are doing these courses. This is a great improvement for Katsina, the Northwest and the country in general.

Katsina City News: What are you doing in terms of corporate social responsibility between the university and the host community?

Vice Chancellor: We are doing well in that area. We have the Directorate for Gender Studies, where they are looking at the issue of girl child education. We are going round to see girls that are out of school, we talk to their parents and if they agree we take the their children back to school and pay for all they want, either in primary or secondary school. Apart from that we have a medical outreach where from time to time we go round the town and some villages and give them free medical care. We are also conducting train the trainer program where we teach teachers of primary and secondary schools so that they increase their English proficiency and mathematics and ICT competence.

Katsina City News: Tell us about your collaborations with both national and international bodies to increase the capacity of the university.

Vice Chancellor: We are doing good in that aspect too. We have a centre for linkages where they collaborate with sister universities across the globe and also interact and interface with donor agencies and other international organizations where we make sure that the name of the university keeps on growing across the globe.

Katsina City News: It seems you have established the Center for Quranic Research and Memorization and I think it is the first of it’s kind in this area. What motivated you to establish it and what have you achieved?

Vice Chancellor: Katsina state is a center of learning. For hundred years now, even the modern education system in this are started from Katsina with the Katsina College and other schools. Also Katsina state is the centre of Islamic modernization where we have a lot of school teachers, high competent Islamic scholars based in Katsina and many Islamiyya schools as well. Based on that, we looked round and see that there is no modern institution around here in the Northwest where research can be done on Quranic education, Quranic Research and Quranic memorization. You have to go to the Northeast to find that. So, because of the high demand in Katsina and the boardering states we feel there is need to have the centre so that our young scholars can learn to memories Quran very quickly. We have staff that studied in Cairo where modern Quranic memorization take place. They came with technology where if they put you in class in less than six months someone can memorize the Quran. They are doing it here in conjunction with Islamic Scholars that are in Katsina and we are seeing the impact.

Last year we held a Quranic recitation competition and even this year we are planning one for November where young scholars can come and show their talents which can motivate others to also join.

Katsina City News: you cam from the agricultural sector, referring to your specialization, what have you done to that sector in this university?

Vice Chancellor: Since when I joined the services of this university, when I was the Dean of Agriculture, we made a lot of things. We looked at Katsina state as an agrarian state and saw the need to help the farmers to turn away from local ways of farming. We looked at the modern world, agriculture is turning into a commercial thing where you come and invest your money to get more money, not just for farming to feed oneself.

Even after feeding yourself, there is need for you to sell extra and get more money to the household. When I came we looked round and looked at the seeds. The problem of agriculture now is more on the seeds. The type of seed that can produce a large number and can mature at a reasonable time, the shortest period of time. So that the farmer would not waste time in the farm and will spend little money because the time of production has been shortened. It also avoids risks. Because our local seeds can make you to loose. Because if the rainfall doesn’t last for long, at the end of the day, your farming system may not produce enough yield.

So we produced seeds that can mature early and is resistant to diseases and can produce much yield. For example there is one which we produced in Makera in Dutsinma Local Government called Kaddadon which can double the yield in a hectr of plant  when planted as compared with the local seed. People there are making rich money. 

We have an extension of a modern village in Makera where we train the local people especially youth and rural women to produce enough yield and to farm animals, the manure they get from them they take it to their farms.

When I became the Vice Chancellor I out up a Centre for Psudono Sahelian Centre for Agriculture where we look at the rainfall pattern and advise farmers ahead that the rainfall will start early and finish early, or will last for so and so months. This will help them plan their farming pattern. The center is now collecting inputs and seeds to compare and see how we can regenerate cotton production and groundnut production, which is what made the north to be rich during the 60s, 70s and early 80s and which is now no more. We are working on this with the Katsina state government. The Katsina state governor is giving us much encouragement and much needed support to excel.

Katsina City News: The university in recent times is in the local government having security challenges, but things seem not to be affecting the university, what strategies did you use to achieve this?

Vice Chancellor: Issue of insecurity is not peculiar to only Dutsinma or Katsina state as is seen it is bothering the whole country. What we do here in Dutsinma or in FUDMA is to keep on praying and praying to God to protect us from all these problems.

Of recent we had some challenges, we pray and pray and then we mobilize our internal security then we collaborate with the local people, we hire the vigilante to safeguard the students. We have army, police, DSS, Civil Defense in conjunction also with the vigilante group. They are putting in a lot of effort and by the grace of God we are able to curtail this until of recent. We make sure that our students stay close to each other within the town, though some don’t heed to our advise and stay far away from the hostel. We are making more hostels available for them. In fact my house, the VCs residence here, I converted it into female students hostel so that they can stay inside and be safe. I went into the town and rent an apartment where I am staying. Even the Registrar’s house, I made sure it is converted into a female hostel all for us to keep our students safe. We are trying to improve building more hostels. By the grace of God we will continue to be staying peacefully within the campus.

Katsina City News: Are you in contact with the terrorists who kidnapped those students?

Vice Chancellor: Yes the security agencies are in contact with them. The security agencies including the Police, the Army, the DSS are making efforts to rescue the students and I am sure and hopeful that by the grace of God they will be back to us and their families very soon.

Katsina City News: Are you sure they are all alive?

Vice Chancellor: They are all alive because the their families have been in touch with them, they are in contact with them.

Katsina City News: What can you tell us about your award by the United Nations as the Vice Chancellor?

Vice Chancellor: I thank God for the honor that the United Nations found me worthy as an Ambassador of Peace. Throughout my life, wherever I am I always preach for peace. I preach peaceful coexistence between tribes, between ethnic groups and between religious bodies. Anybody that knows me cannot say I preach violence or anything against any person.

Mine is, let us all as Nigerians be united and happy and be a good and wonderful people.

Katsina City News: When are you expecting to relocate to the permanent site permanently?

Vice Chancellor: By the grace of God we are relocating there permanently including the students by November this year, God willing. The Commandant of the 17th Army Brigade here in Katsina has been assisting us we’ll towards our movement back to the main campus. He agreed to deploy some of his men that will be there permanently to make sure that students and staff live there peacefully.

Katsina City News: What are you planning on the forthcoming convocation ceremony of the university?

Vice Chancellor: The forthcoming convocation ceremony is coming up in the end of November this year. For the first time in history of the university we are graduating more than 4000 undergraduate students and more than 350 post graduate students. This is the first time we are producing post graduate students.

It is a thing of joy to see us producing more than 350 at a go during the first set of graduation from the postgraduates school. This is a happy moment for us. We are going to award honorary degree to three eminent Nigerians, including former governor of Katsina state, His Excellency Barrister Shehu Shema, the Emir of Daura, Umar Farouk Umar and the Emir of Bichi, Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero. These three eminent Nigerians will be awarded honorary degrees for their selfless services to the country and humanity in general.

Next year in February to March we are going to conduct another convocation to confer honorary degrees to three eminent Nigerians. The first one will be post humourous and will be awarded to the late president or the country, His Excellency Umar Musa Yar’adua, his predecessor Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the wife of the Senate President. These three eminent Nigerians will be honoured in February God willing.

Katsina City News: What challenges have you faces so far?

Vice Chancellor: The major problem so far is the issue of security. I hardly sleep in the night, always checking my phone to see if the Director Security has called me or any of the security agencies in Dutsinma going round the clock to safeguard the students and  the town have called. Or each time I check my phone every one to two hour to see if there is any distress call. This is very disturbing, I don’t sleep fully until in the morning when I didn’t receive any call from these people. We are praying and praying. With the way the state governor is doing in terms of security, we are hopeful that this will be a thing of the past.

The second problem is that of lack of sufficient funds to do more and more projects.

Katsina City News: How did you manage the conflict between two students that did not escalate to unfortunate situation?

Vice Chancellor: This is also another unfortunate situation that happened to the university. Before I say anything I pray for the reposed soul of the deceased student, it was painful that I couldn’t even sleep. We pray this never occured again. What happened was that there was a clash between two students that were living off campus. There was a fight between two groups over the issue of a girlfriend and the president of the SUG (Students Union Government) was notified and he went there with security agents to stop the fight. They took all those concerned to the security office in the university. After some investigation, they took the deceased to the clinic  where he was attended to until in the morning when his condition deteriorated and he was taken to the Federal Medical Center where he died on arrival. Since the matter is being investigated by the police I cannot talk much about it.

On our side, I also constituted a committee to investigate the circumstances. The committee finished their work and submitted the report to me and they recommended the suspension of all the three students that were involved. All of them have been suspended indefinitely pending the outcome of the police investigations. When we get the report we will take the final decision. We pray this thing never happen again.

Katsina City News: How is your relationship with the state government, which is the host of the university?

Vice Chancellor: Our relationship with the state government is cordial. The executive governor is a very nice man, gentle and he listens to all our demands. In fact, as I speak to you now he is in the process of giving us the Katsina Shanghai Center which is located in Dutsinma which if he did will help to boost agricultural capacity of the state. He has responded and approved all our requests that were submitted to him. Working with him is very nice.