By Idris Danladi
The former Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Professor Suleiman Bogoro, has described the proposed amendment to change Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, from a specialised to a conventional university as ill-informed and unnecessary.
Professor Bogoro who stated this in Abuja while speaking with journalists, warned that the move could undermine the institution’s hard-earned reputation for producing quality graduates in science and technology.
He recalled that the university was established by the Shehu Shagari administration as the only University of Technology in Northern Nigeria, alongside the Federal Universities of Technology in Akure and Owerri to advance technological education across the country.
“A friend of mine that was doing mechanical engineering in Cambridge university in UK then we met and he said to me, I heard it from company that in Nigeria the best computer science graduates were those that went through ATBU”
The Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (Amendment) Bill 2025, sponsored by Senator Shehu Buba of Bauchi South, has already passed second reading in the Senate and is now before the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND for further legislative action.
The committee has four weeks to report back to the Senate President.
Responding to questions on how the bill could affect student enrollment, Professor Bogoro said stakeholders are engaging the Senate Committee to ensure the university retains its original mandate.
“To me, I think the initiative to change the status has been Ill-informed”
Professor Bogoro added that prospective students should not panic, noting that Sa’adu Zungur University in Bauchi already offers conventional courses to meet regional needs.
