Dutse varsity attracted N10bn projects in four years - VC | EduCeleb
EduCeleb
29th September 2020
The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University Dutse (FUD), Fatima Batul Mukhtar has revealed that her leadership has attracted over N10 billion worth projects to the university in the last four and half years.
Professor Mukhtar who stated this while fielding questions on television show focused on the educational progress of Northern Nigerian women since 1960 and her legacies as one of the shining stars of women education in the north.
EduCeleb.com recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed her as Vice-Chancellor of FUD in 2016.
Mukhtar appreciated the opportunity to contribute her quota to the development of the university adding that she is leaving the university better than she met it.
“I believe I have made some improvements in the university in terms of academic and infrastructural developments, and one of such areas is the College of Medicine. I know I am going to leave the programme solid.
“I know now the students can comfortably go to the hospital and start their clinical as soon as ASUU strike is called off . The president has approved the released of the sum of N3 billion for the up upgrade of the hospital and has directed the minister to release the fund.
“This means the issues about the hospital is over and now the MBBS pragramme has come to stay.”
She also revealed that when she assumed office as Vice-Chancellor in 2016, the nation was in economic recession and the university was cash strapped.
This made her resolved to leave the comfort of her offce to seek assistance from government offices, ministries, Tetfund, Ecological Fund among several others to get projects for the university.
“I have brought to this university projects worth over N10 billion. This of course including the projects I cannot even quantify like projects done by Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Works, NCC, NITDA, philanthropists to mention a few.
“That is why I said they cannot be quantified. I thank God for this, because even with the economic situation in the country, the university is a living example in terms of investments led by the Federal Government and it’s opened for all to come and see.
“Today I think we have accessed all our interventions at TETFUND as some are ongoing and some have been completed and so on but the whole fund have been put to use”
She said as a professor of botany, one of her major legacies are the students she has trained who doing well in their chosen career adding that the Kano Botanical Garden which she personally established and funded is another worthy legacy she is leaving behind.
According to her many students go there for SIWES, attachment and research adding that the garden also serve as a place of pleasure and conservervation of indigenous plant species.
Mukhtar said the failure of the colonial government to recognise the importance of Qur’anic education and ajami as a form of literacy was responsible for classifying the north as illitrate adding that before the coming of the whitemen northern Nigeria was using ajami for writing and communication.
The Vice-Chancellor noted that subsequent role of missionaries in promoting western education made muslim northerners to reject it adding that despite this initial setback, a lot women have embraced education and number of girl child enrollment has doubled in the last sixty years.