ZAMSUT: A University Existing Without both Academic and Non-academic Staff

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By Tijjani Salihu Shinkafi

tjshinkee@gmail.com

ZAMSUT is an acronym for Zamfara State University Talata Mafara. It is a state university established by the Zamfara State government in 2018 during the administration of former governor Abdul-Aziz Yari Abubakar in his second term in office. Like most Nigerian governors, Yari chose to establish ZAMSUT in his home town, Talata Mafara. Before leaving office, Yari started the construction of a permanent site for the University. The University offers cutting edge courses that most catchment Universities hardly offer such as BSc Public Health, Nursing, and Physiotherapy among others. Following the annulment of the 2019 elections in Zamfara State by the Supreme Court, Governor Bello Matawalle being the gubernatorial candidate of the opposition party became the governor of the State. He set up a strategy committee that reviewed all the developmental works that were executed by the previous administration. The committee recommended the continuation of the University. Despite the recommendations by the committee, the Governor suspended the University from operating. Following a mass public protest by the concerned individuals, parents and students of the institution, the Governor reopened the University in 2020 and appointed four principal officers namely Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, Bursar and Director Academic Planning. The University has been operating without both academic and non-academic staff for the last two years. All the functions of the University such as Deans, Head of Departments and Examination Officers are being performed by the visiting staff who themselves have not received their salaries for nearly seven months. Deputy Vice-Chancellor (both academic and administration) have also not been appointed.

In Nigeria, Zamfara was the last state to establish its own University. The state was established in 1996 together with Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Kogi, Osun and Gombe and they have all established their state universities in 2010, 2002, 1999, 2006, and 2004 respectively. In fact, Gombe State has established another state University in 2017. In the Northwest, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Kebbi, Sokoto established their state Universities in 2000, 2006, 2004, 2006, and 2009 respectively. Kano and Sokoto have established additional State Universities.

For several years the state government have not paid the registration fees of Zamfara State indigenes who wrote the final year secondary school examination (either WAEC or NECO) leading to a fewer number of Zamfara State indigenes admitted either in either the state or federal government tertiary institutions or even in neighbouring states. This is because the joint admission and matriculation board that admit students in the Universities require the candidates to have relevant credits in their O-level results before they can secure admission. Both WAEC and NECO results for the state have not been released from 2019 to date. The state’s owned tertiary institutions have started a plan to consider admitting students from the state on awaiting condition because largely the students admitted into these institutions are from neighbouring states.

Zamfara state government may consider adopting the model employed by the Borno State government when it established Borno State University in 2016. Lecturers with either MSc or PhD relevant to the courses offered by Borno State University were transferred to the University since they were already in the state payroll. This is possible in Zamfara State since we have a good number of MSc and PhD holders in the four tertiary institutions in the state. Thereafter the state government can employ more lecturers. Most lecturers are now sponsored by an agency called TETFUND that provide support to all tertiary institutions including state universities in the country. Imagine how many billions of naira ZAMSUT lost since its establishment for just training and conference attendance by both academic staffs if they were recruited?

Overall, the governor needs to sit up to his responsibilities by properly funding education. The University stands a chance of being closed by the NUC at the time of accreditation. After a certain period, all the Universities are usually accredited by the National University Commission (NUC) and ZAMSUT’s accreditation is expected this year. How can ZAMSUT scale through the accreditation in the absence of both academic and non-academic staff in the institution?

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