The Kogi State Government led by His Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, recently approached the Kogi State Assembly with a Bill to decentralise the Kogi State University.

The two arms of government are working in
unison to make this laudable proposal a reality. Put simply, two more campuses of the the state's
flagship tertiary institution will be established once the Bill passes into law.

The reasons for this laudable proposal are many, but a few will suffice to make the point here.
Today Kogi State citizens do not have the benefit of studying any Engineering or Technology course in KSU. Each year, many otherwise qualified candidates from Kogi State have to forego their preferred courses or downgrade their study expectations.
The Bill tends to reduce the incidence of this by providing for a School of Engineering and Technology in Kogi Central.

Today Agriculture has taken center stage and will
continue to dominate the continental sphere as for many years to come.
Kogi State has comparative advantages in
Agriculture including vast arable lands and water for aquaculture and specialised agro-businesses like hydroponics.

A school of Agriculture with all its economies which is billed to be sited in Kogi West, will
broaden the field of manpower for agriculture in Kogi State.

There are no plans to move existing faculties out of the current campus except as may be required to put round pegs in round holes in view of the proposed new campuses.

All the professional courses will most likely
remain 'as is' at Anyigba Campus, namely Medical, Law, Arts, Education,Social,Humanities and Natural Sciences.

It goes without saying that anyone who is interested in the broad-based development of Kogi State and not blinded by myopic considerations should applaud this initiative.

The facts below show that our preoccupation should not be with 'why it cannot work' but rather, 'why should it not work'?

1. Kogi State University will still retain its HQs in Ayingba while her Vice Chancellor and Senate will work out from there Administrative wise.

2. Our teeming students needs not go to Ekpoma,
Nasarawa or farther away to study courses that will be offered at the incoming campuses especially those affiliated to the Two Faculties which are today non existent.

3. The improved infrastructure and learning standards at all three campuses which I trust the New Direction Agenda of the Governor Yahaya Bello Administration to usher in is expected to attract thousands of fresh students to Kogi State from across the Country resulting in socioeconomic benefits.

4. Most of our elders who today elevate the Unity, Peace and Progress of Nigeria above tribal and ethnic sentiments first started in schools that broke down ethnic barriers.
We believe the enlarged and enhanced 3-Campus structure will inculcate and localise such
progressive experiences in future generations of Kogites who will meet and bond in KSU.

5. An admission policy which based on Equal
Opportunities for all Kogites will be deployed in the new KSU under the coordination of a single Central Administration.
Three campuses does not mean 3 Vice Chancellors, 3 Registrars or 3 Bursars within the Decentralization.

6. The name of this institution shall remain Abubakar Audu University - School of this or that at such and such location.

7. I implore the present generation of Kogites, and
indeed Nigerians, to start looking at issues on the merits and away from the narrow prism of ethnicity which constricts development and limits innovation.

8. The issue of where funds will come from to run the new structure ought not to trouble anyone.
A Scarcity Mentality has never been the characteristic of great people. Government is already looking beyond the recession.
In fact the recession is in itself an opportunity
to retool agelong norms which have not helped our society in order to eliminate waste and free up monies for new ways to succeed.
Plus, we are also looking at collaborative models which have long been ignored.

There is no limitations to success except those we place on ourselves.

Before we jump into the foray with all sorts of theories and conjectures let us sit back and think it through. We might indeed see things from a broader view made possible by an open mind to new directions rather than continuing in the narrow lanes carved out by pride and prejudice.
Just trying to make some sense out of a well thought out ,forward and future looking concept in not just naming a University after a National Statesman but to ensure his efforts and legacies are not left at one spot but expanded to more frontiers.

May God grant us wisdom,understanding to always think KogiFirst.

Edward Onoja (chief of Staff to Kogi State Governor).


Cc: lalasticlala

Have they equiped the existing campuses?

OK, what to the current campus, it's up-to standard

cool...

You may also read...

OKUN ECONOMIC FORUM MEMORANDUM PRESENTED TO
THE PUBLIC HEARING ON ABUBAKAR AUDU UNIVERSITY, ORGANISED BY THE KOGI STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY COMMITTEES ON EDUCATION AND JUDICIARY PRESENTED BY:
CHIEF J.O. YUSUF CHAIRMAN
DATE: THURSDAY, 3RD NOVEMBER, 2016
Introduction:
We of the Okun Economic Forum appreciate the
leadership of the Kogi State House of Assembly and its Committees on Education and the Judiciary for giving the people of this state the opportunity to jaw-jaw on its affairs.
It is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. At the end, it is expected that each of the elements that make
up the state will find a respectable place to stay under its political sun.

Permit me on behave of the Forum to thank the
Governor of the state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, for his
unwavering determination to right as many of the wrongs of the state as possible.
His courage is commendable for where his predecessors looked the other way in the face of crying abnormalities, he has stood his ground to put things right.

It is particularly important to straighten things in this university, to make them look normal because this is where many of those who will lead this state, the country and even the world
are being bred. And it is the principles and ethics with which they are brought up here that they will employ when they get to the larger society to shape and reshape, to engineer and re-engineer it.

The word university is derived from the word universality. It is like a laboratory where specimens are taken for tests to
find out their characteristics and how they may be made useful to the society. The best of human values and principles should be developed and inculcated in the students before they are returned to the same society that brought them there.
If for any reason, the youth/ students are not better in morals, ethics and principles
than when they were first brought in, the university has failed the principles of universalism.

Thus, it is our expectation that this public hearing mounted by the Kogi state House of Assembly of honourable members will add value to this institution which is the highest owned by this state.

Honourable members of this house of Assembly and fellow Kogites, let us give honour to whom honour is due. Let us honour late Prince Abubakar Audu, the visionary leader who established the university.
It is befitting that the institution was named after him on his untimely and unfortunate death. May his soul continue to rest in perfect peace, amen.

By the statute that established the university,
Abubakar Audu University, it is jointly owned because it is jointly financed by all the Local Government Areas, all the senatorial districts and all the peoples of this state.
Equal percentage is deducted from the allocations of all the LGAs in the state to finance the activities of the institution.
But the benefits in terms of employment,
admissions and impact on its immediate environments are too disproportionate for comfort.
We will plead with facts and figures to prove the above assertion.
Similarly, by the law that created this institution, it was conceived to be multi-campus.

That is, each of the three senatorial Districts of the state shall have at least one campus. Unfortunately, up till now, all its campuses are
still on its original site in Anyigba.

Equality, fairness and Justice:
By the principles of equality, fairness and justice, all the LGAs and Senatorial Districts of the state should share the benefits of this institution as equitably as is humanly possible.

With all sense of responsibility, we of this Okun
Economic Forum would like to support the position of His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello, that out of the eight faculties of this university, four of them should be taken to the Central and West Senatorial District as follows:

The central Senatorial District should have the Faculties of social Sciences and Management
the West Senatorial District should have the faculties of Agriculture and Science
while the Faculties of Arts, Law, Education and Medicine should remain in the East at its present site.
The economics of this pattern of decentralization is that the Anyigba campus will utilize all the existing facilities there. Many of the staff in Law, Arts and Education Facilities will be useful in faculties other than their own within the campus.

The interaction between faculties of management and social sciences in terms of teaching and learning will be very smooth.

Agriculture is science-based and a combination of both the faculties of Agriculture and Science will be very cost-effective.
The faculty of Engineering is yet to be developed. It is very expensive. Almost more expensive than Medicine.
It may be advisable for the State Government to think twice before she embarks on it. Many state universities attempted to establish engineering faculties and have run to problems with the National Universities Commission.

Accreditation of their courses have been
extremely difficult. If our state university is able to run the courses offered by the existing faculties for now, engineering may spring up later in Central Senatorial District. Employment of Staff
In this university, the pattern of employment is skewed in favour of one Senatorial District against the other two.

A look at the table of employment on senatorial basis shows that as at 2013, the East Senatorial District had 73% of both junior and senior staff in the university while the Central and West managed to get 4% and 7.6% respectively.

In figures, out of 1,516 staff, the East got
1,118 the central got 62 and the west got 115. Non-
indigenes got 230.

However, the position is now worse because just before the exit of the last administration in the state, a total of 346 new senior staff were appointed. Out of these, only ten (10) were not from the East Senatorial District of the
state.

Principal Positions in the University Out of 37 principal appointments in the university, the East have 28, the Central 5 and the West 3. Out of 34
Departments, 22 of them are headed by the Eastern
Senatorial District, 2 are headed by people from the Central and 3 by the West, while the rest, by non-Kogites.

The pattern of admission into the institution from the different parts of the state is not radically different from the scenario painted above.

In summary, it could be seen that:
the management of the affairs of this university has been very exclusive of people from the Central and West Senatorial Districts, the time-honoured tradition of merit, fairness and universalism have been trampled upon and desecrated in the running of the affairs of the institution, from all that have transpired in this citadel of learning,
there is need to turn the searchlight of accountability on it to determine the amount of internally Generated Revenue (IGR) there over the years as well as its utilization.

This is necessary with a view to determining
the amount of financial resources that can be sourced from within to fund the gigantic undertaking that will be necessitated by its decentralization.

Prayer:
The Okun Economic Forum therefore prays the Kogi State House of Assembly through the honourable members of these Committees to amend the Act that established this great institution to decentralize its campus into three with the Faculties of Medicine, Arts, Education and Law to remain in the main Campus in Anyigba The faculties of Management social Sciences and
Engineering in Okene Campus, and The Faculties of Sciences and Agriculture in the Kabba
Campus.

To insert a clause or clauses in the statute of the
university to prevent the type of lopsidedness in the appointment of principal officers of the institution.

To insert a clause or clauses that provides for the rotation of the post of Vice-Chancellor of the University just the way the headship of the Kogi State Polytechnic, Colleges of Education and other tertiary institutions are rotated among the three Senatorial Districts of the state. This clause should go deeper by insisting that the selection of the Vice-Chancellor should be based on the universal criteria of filling such a position after it has
been zoned to the East, Central or West.

That is, if the West is to produce the Vice-Chancellor, he/she should emerge after a competitive interview of applicants from that particular District.

To insert a clause or clauses providing for fairness and equality in admission of students into the institution.

To insert a clause or clauses that insist that the
management of the institution must stick to the
traditions, rules and culture of the universityc system where universalism reigns.

Thank you very much

Cc:acidosis

May God deliver Okun land from the selfishness of a so called majority.

Acidosis:
May God deliver Okun land from the selfishness of a so called majority.

Amen ooo..

Can you imagine the level of lopsidedness in the
appointment of senior and junior staff of the institution...ratio 73% :4% :7.6% for east, central and west senatorial district respectively. Whereas, it is jointly financed by all the Local Government Areas in Kogi state.
The thunder wey go fire these greedy people still dey do press up for one coner.

Good for them

Is it that school in Ayingba? Students always obstructing the free flow of traffic on that route.

ok

Without paying the salaries and pensions owed to workers and pensioners first?

One should be in Kabba another in Okene ..

Igala's domination there is too much

Multi-campus system is expensive to run as you will have to duplicate admin structures on every campus.

seguno2:
Without paying the salaries and pensions owed to workers and pensioners first?

the guy have paid. stop the lies.. if your acquintance hasnt been paid i s either he is a ghost worker or has documentation issues

Guseh:


Amen ooo..

Can you imagine the level of lopsidedness in the
appointment of senior and junior staff of the institution...ratio 73% :4% :7.6% for east, central and west senatorial district respectively. Whereas, it is jointly financed by all the Local Government Areas in Kogi state.
The thunder wey go fire these greedy people still dey do press up for one coner.

my brother its not financed by all the lg..do you know that about 70% of kogi state igr is genersted by kogi central thanks to itakpe,ajoukuta and dangote ,the remaining 30% is generated by kogi west.. yet those that have noting to contribute have all the govt infrastructures and appointments
.things like this make me to understand the SOUTH SOUTH ( not south east ) SITUATION IN NIGERIA from another angle

A delibrately crafted highly political press release.
I recently visited KSU ayingba campus, the place na apology aswear down.

God bless the youngest governor in Nigeria. The rates at which his brain think is higher compare to the one who made arm robbers and thugs millionaire in the state as it trends the news last week.
God bless Kogi state, God bless Nigeria.

just passing by

The medical school is still battling for accreditation and the Governor wants to create more campuses instead?!!!... What a wasted state!

U can't start building campuses without the proper facilities, nigerian governors with NA me do this project syndrome .
Equip the original campus and forget abt new campuses for now

As much as I understand a need for similar development as is in kogi east, in the center and west, I do not get why the university shld be made multi campus. Why not open a state university of agriculture in kogi West. Kogi central already got a federal university of technology. So that covers engineering and technology courses.

Our major problem in this country is a rush towards setting up new stuff.. and very poor maintenance culture afterwards. Let's consolidate abeg and maintain what we have well.

Realberry:
The medical school is still battling for accreditation and the Governor wants to create more campuses instead?!!!... What a wasted state!

Maybe his brain is inside his small head instead of being inside his big head.

Thaa

He wants to build new campuses when he has not payed lecturers and they want to go on strike, plus some causes r not even accredited. Pls make I graduate o

It's all for the development of the state and improving the welfare of kogites through creation of employment opportunities. The multiplier effect will be greatly felt. Above all, the increased learning capacity.

sharon395:
He wants to build new campuses when he has not payed lecturers and they want to go on strike, plus some causes r not even accredited. Pls make I graduate o

abeg Sister, which "cause" u dey study?

hamzeiy:

my brother its not financed by all the lg..do you know that about 70% of kogi state igr is genersted by kogi central thanks to itakpe,ajoukuta and dangote ,the remaining 30% is generated by kogi west.. yet those that have noting to contribute have all the govt infrastructures and appointments
.things like this make me to understand the SOUTH SOUTH ( not south east ) SITUATION IN NIGERIA from another angle

.Keep quiet! Stop feeding people lies. Apart from Dangote cement company. No industry is at it's maximum capacity in Kogi state. Kogi rely mainly on federal allocation. The reason for thier back-wardness in the commitie of states.

Equity goes with justice. I have always told my Igala friends that how they were running Kogi State would backfire and they will suffer because they cannot produce Governors forever, now what I told them is happening to them. Delta State is a typical example of how a culturally diverse State can adopt a political equilibrum that favours all zones. Kogi is a state that Nigeria gave to Igala, Okun and Ebira as dominant ethnic groups in that state to manage, Igalas hijacked everything since the creation of that State, they have added no single value whatsoever to that State only padding the civil service with their people while the people whose resources are used to run the State get nothing.The Economic base of Kogi State undoubtedly is not in Kogi east, it lies between Central and West. I commend the Governor for trying to redistribute development. By the time Yahaya Bello finishes his mission in Kogi State, only competent zone will that has the economic power will be producing Governors of that State.

A govt bereft of ideas