February 29, (THEWILL) – The Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu, to reconsider the decision to merge the Nigerian Army University, with the Nigerian Defence Academy as a faculty.
Zulum appealed while briefing newsmen in Maiduguri, on Thursday.
He noted that the University has admitted and graduated many students not only from the region but across the country, who have not been able to secure admission to other tertiary institutions.
He said Borno State and the North East region which is recovering from more than fourteen years of conflict, require more educational institutions to counter the negative narratives of Boko Haram insurgency and to also bolster the non-kinetic effort of tackling the conflict.
“If possible, they should allow it as an Army University, because of the importance of education in this part of the country, while Boko Haram is saying that education is forbidden, so by allowing this University to be scrapped, they might have achieved one or two of their own objectives,” Zulum said.
Zulum alternatively recommended that the Federal Ministry of Education take over the Army University and convert it to a conventional university.
He however commended the President for taking the bold step of rationalising some agencies to reduce costs of governance and streamline efficiency.
“In all fairness to the Federal Government, this decision is timely, especially at this material time that the government is making an effort to reposition the economy of the nation,” he begged
President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, directed the implementation of the Stephen Oronsanye report as part of the effort to restructure government agencies and commissions.
