Senate urges specialised institutions to be focused on mandate

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said that Universities of Agriculture or Science and Technology should be restricted to providing degrees and other certificates in areas of their core mandates.

Lawan said this after the Senate on Tuesday passed for second reading “A bill for an Act to provide for the establishment of the City University of Technology, Auchi and for other related matters thereof.

The bill was sponsored by Senator, Alimikhena Francis (Edo North).

Lawan in his remark stated that rather than delving into the general environment in providing degrees in sociology and other disciplines other than the sciences, these specialized institutions should meet their mandate for the development of the sciences in the country.

He charged the Senate committee on tertiary institutions to liaise with the relevant agencies of government in her oversight and address the matter.

Lawan said: “This is one thing the committees on tertiary institution should take up with the federal ministry of education, NUC and other statutory stakeholders that are supposed to be involved with because it is really very important as we prepare for our tomorrow.

“If we must develop as we desire, we must develop the critical manpower that we need and we cannot do without getting into Science and technology,” the President of the Senate stated.

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Senator Alimikhena in his lead debate said the Bill consists of 24 clauses divided into five, parts, the first part provided for the incorporation, objects of the university, the constitution of principal officers and functions of the chancellor, pro-chancellor, council and its finance, general-purpose committee, senate, and vice-chancellor.

He said the second and third part of the bill is concerned with the transfer of property, functions, the power to make statutes, proof of statutes and power of visitor to decide the meaning of statutes.

While parts four deals with the visitor, removal of certain council members, removal and discipline of academic, administrative and professional staff, removal of examiners and discipline of students.

The final part deals on the prohibition of discrimination, disposal of land, quorum and procedure of established bodies, the appointment of committees, miscellaneous provisions, interpretation as well as the short title of the bill.

In his intervention, Senate Deputy Leader, Robert Boroffice, said specialised institutions must be structured to carry out its mandate.

He cited other climes in Europe which maintained 80 be per cent of its graduates to be of the sciences because of its importance to national growth.

“We need to look at the structure of our tertiary institutions. In European universities, eighty per cent of graduates are in the sciences.

“This is because technology is a key tool for national development,” he stated.