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Tag: Abdusalami Abubakar

  • FG issues provisional licences to six new private universities

    FG issues provisional licences to six new private universities

    The Federal Ministry of Education on Tuesday issued provisional licences to the six newly established private universities.

    The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, gave the provisional licences to the institutions in Abuja.

    The institutions are Admiralty University Ibusa in Delta, Spiritan University Neochi, Abia, Precious Cornerstone University in Ibadan, Oyo State, and Pamo University of Medica Sciences, Port Harcourt.

    Others are Atiba University in Oyo, Oyo State and Eko University of Medical and Health Sciences, Ijaniki, Lagos State.

    Adamu, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Mr Sonny Echono said the Federal Executive Council approved the take-off of the universities on December 6.

    He said that the approvals were given to the universities to provide quality education in Nigeria.

    He said the approval had increased the number of private universities in the country to 74.

    “The problems of access to quality education in Nigeria has poised serious challenges and therefore required serious efforts to address them.

    “The approval of the universities tends to address the issue of access to university education.

    Read also: FEC approves six private universities

    “Private universities in Nigeria have contributed and will continue to contribute to the development of education in the country.

    “The competition of private universities has contributed to healthy delivery within the system.

    He called on the institutions’ administrators to ensure highest standard of best practices to achieve academic excellence in their programmes.

    Earlier, the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission ( NUC ), Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, said quality control must be strictly adhered to.

    “ With about two million candidates applying for admission into universities annually, the university system is only able to accommodate about 500,000 students yearly.

    “ And so, there is need to licence more universities to help deal with the challenge of access to education.’’

    Also, Former head of state, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar called on Nigerians to maintain peace in the country to ensure educational development.

    Abubakar also urged universities to maintain and ensure quality education for the betterment of all Nigerians.

    He said with a total of 160 universities in Nigeria out of which 74 are private universities, 46 states and 40 federal universities, there was need to ensure peace to achieve educational development.

    He called for the engagement of the youths educationally, adding that the universities should be adequately equipped for meaningful development.

    NAN

  • Abdusalami tasks Nigerians on peaceful co-existence

    Abdusalami tasks Nigerians on peaceful co-existence

    A former Military Head of State, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar, has called on Nigerians to live in peace with one another.

    Abubakar said this on Thursday in Gusau, Zamfara, while responding to questions from journalists.

    He advised those agitating for the restructuring of the country to follow due process and the rule of law.

    Abubakar said that Nigeria had evolved through a long history which began as a region, expanding to additional regions up to what are now the 36 states and the FCT.

    He said that the present administration was doing its best to restore the country’s lost glory and that this could only be achieved through the support of all Nigerians.

    He said that he was in the state to check on his mining site in order to boost its potential, especially, now that the Federal Government was focusing on the non-oil sectors.

    The former head of state commended the state government for the provision of infrastructure in the state.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abubakar was earlier received by the state deputy governor, Mallam Ibrahim Wakkala, who assured him of the state government’s willingness to support investors by providing them an enabling environment.

  • Update: Committee not intervening for Jonathan – Kukah

    Update: Committee not intervening for Jonathan – Kukah

    The National Peace Committee on the 2015 General Election headed by former Head of State, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar (rtd), on Tuesday denied intervening on behalf of former President Goodluck Jonathan when it met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Speaking on behalf of the committee after the meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Dr. Mathew Hassan Kukah, also noted that Jonathan never sought for intervention of the committee.

    It was alleged that Jonathan had sought the intervention of the committee to check the beaming of Buhari’s anti-corruption searchlight on activities of his regime.

    Kukah said: “We gave a bit of update about the relevance of the peace committee itself and how we can help to nurture what God has given to us.

    “Anybody is free to come to our committee but President Jonathan never by telephone or another means talked to the committee. We went to see him, but that is after we had already seen members of the political party and members of the civil society.  We planned to see the speaker because we couldn’t see him yesterday.

    “This is a much planned series of intervention essentially just to hear out everybody and I think the good news is that Nigerians are committed to a new nation. They are committed to ensuring that the gains and blessings God has given us come to fruition.”

    On why it has become necessary to intervene, he said: “This is not an intervention, it is not a hearing out process. When we had election it was like a wedding, now the reality of government is now the marriage and people need to be encouraged.

    “We need to reaffirm that this is our country and the only thing we can collectively be opposed to is injustice, iniquity, corruption and in that regard we all had one single conversation.”

    He said President Buhari has reaffirmed the need for the committee to continue, while the international community has also welcomed the contributions of the committee.

    Speaking on Buhari’s administration’s position on corruption, he said: “It is not heating up the polity. In our conversation with President Jonathan and members of the parties, I don’t think any Nigerian will support corruption or is against the President’s commitment to ensuring that we turn a new leaf.

    “I think what we are concerned about is process, it is no longer a military regime and under our existing laws everybody is innocent until proven guilty.

    “Again our own commitment is not to intimidate or fight anybody, the former President’s commitment and what he did still remains spectacular and I think that  President Buhari himself appreciates that. So our effort really is to make sure that the right thing is done.”

  • Rivers crisis can truncate democracy – Abubakar

    Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar  has warned that the political crisis in Rivers State posses a threat to survival of the nation’s democracy.

    He also warned that our fledging democracy may be truncated if politicians in the state and the country fail to put their house in order and avoid overheating the polity.
    Abubakar gave the  warnings on Thursday  during an interview with members of the Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Niger state chapter in his residence in Minna.

    Describing the political crisis in Rivers state as sad and unfortunate, the former military leader counselled politicians in the state to resolve the disagreement  in the interest of democracy.

    “I hope those involved would take note of what democracy is and check themselves. What has happened in Rivers State is very sad. I hope that the politicians will try to put a break and reflect on what they are doing in order not to truncate democracy”.

    Abubakar urged politicians to stop taking democracy for granted adding that there is a limit to what freedom is all about in democracy.

    “In democracy, there is a limit to what freedom is all about. There is freedom of speech, freedom of association and what have you but this stops when you start infringing on others freedom,” he counselled.

    The Peace Ambassador who has brokered peace in many African warring countries prayed for peace in the country as he maintained that no nation can exist without peace.

    “Having been involved in peace process around the world on behalf of the African Union (AU), I always advocate for peace in our nation because I’ve seen the devastation of unrest in other countries. I pray the tidings of Ramandan would abide with all of us,” he stated.