President
Buhari and some of his ministers closed down the only Maritime University that
was built by former President Goodluck Jonathan citing several flimsy reasons
for their action.
Though it is
a remarkable decision for the government to establish the proposed first
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) University in Nigeria within the
next three months.
However, one
it is believed that the country would have gained more if the two specialised
universities are established in the country to fast track national development
in special areas.
The decision
to establish the ICT university was made known by the Minister of
Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu, during a quarterly radio programme, Guest of
the month, at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Ibadan Zonal
Office.
According to
the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the minister spoke on “Harnessing the
Potentials in the Communications Sector for Sustainable Development.’’
The minister
also said that the new university is going to be an off-shoot of an existing
ICT-based institute, The Digital Bridge Institute, which is presently in process
in six centres across the country.
“It is time
to leverage on the bountiful opportunities in the Communications sector to
generate additional revenue for government.
“We all know
that ICT is now redefining how we live, how we deliver businesses and services
in terms of government to government as well as between government and
citizens,” he said.
“We currently
have what we call Digital Bridge Institute. It has six campuses- one in Lagos,
Abuja, Kano, Owerri, Yola and in Benue state.
Shittu said
that the present standard of education in the universities do not meet the
needs of industry operators. And said that it will be foremost university in
the African Continent that is focused on ICT, and will partner with leading ICT
institutions around the globe.
“I have had
the privilege of speaking with a lot of operators throughout the world, including
Motorola, Mark Zuckerberg (FaceBook founder) and others.
“They have
promised to partner with us and bring in a lot funding and logistics to be able
to sustain such a university which will provide world class hands to train
experts in telecoms industry,’’ the minister said.
“This will be
the fastest means to create employment for our teeming youths, improve access
and enhance quality of service delivery and affordability in our country.
“I took a
memo to Mr President on it and he asked me to get the input of the Ministry of
Education and the National University Commission (NUC).
“I am glad to
say that I got positive inputs from the two agencies and we are at the stage of
going to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval.
“As soon as
we get the approval of FEC, we will set up an implementation committee and
within three months, we should be able to take off.
“The
infrastructure are on ground because it is an existing institution that we are
set to transform to the ICT University,” Shittu said.
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