The Bauchi State Government says it has since allocated spacious plots of land and a temporary site for the formal take-off of the newly approved Federal College of Education, Jama’are in Jama’are Local Government Area.
Dr. Aliyu Tilde, Commissioner for Education, said this while reacting to insinuations the government deliberately refused to provide site for the project.
Tilde spoke in Bauchi on Thursday, explaining that his ministry had since liaised with relevant stakeholders and allocated land for the permanent site of of the College along Kano Road in Jama’are town.
Tilde added that the state government had also allocated Government Secondary School, Jama’are for the immediate commencement of academic programmes in the college.
He said: “We did this in consultation with the community as we also provided office accommodation to the management of the college at the Government Arabic College, Jama’are.”
According to him the management of the newly established College of Education wrote to the state Ministry of Education seeking assistance for their take-off, after which their request was addressed.
He stated that the government had also provided all the logistics, transport, furniture and other relevant facilities for the take-off of the College.
“We have recently received a letter of appreciation signed by the Management of the College,” he added.
Tilde, however, attributed the delay in the commencement of academic activities at the College to the non release of a take-off grant by the Federal Government.
“What is holding the commencement of activities of the College is the take-off grant from the Federal Government. We hope the FG will expedite action,” Tilde said.
The Commissioner added that government had similarly allocated a spacious plot of land for the establishment the newly approved Federal College of Science and Technology, Misau, along Kari Road, in the metropolis.
“The land was allocated just before the College of Navy in Misau town,” he said.
According to him, the state government has since provided a temporary site for the College at the Bauchi State Orphan and Vulnerable Children’s’ School located in Misau town.
“A delegation from the Federal ministry of education have recently inspected and expressed satisfaction over the sites,” the commissioner said.
The Commissioner noted that his ministry had also recently received a letter addressed to the state governor requiring land for the establishment of a Federal University of Health Sciences in Azare in Katagum Local Government Area.
He said that in its letter, the Federal Ministry of Education was asking for a 100 hectares of land with the necessary amenities like access road, water and electricity, but that due process must be followed as getting 100 hectares of land in Azare overnight was not possible, hence the need for proper consultation to identify the sites as land owners need to be consulted.
“We must appropriately consult with owners of the land and determine their compensation,” he said.
Tilde added that if an existing school was to be allocated, consideration must be made as to where to accommodate its existing student population, hence the government’s hesitation to allocate an existing secondary school.
“When all this is done, the Ministry will write a memo submitting its suggestion to the governor for final approval,” he said.
He lamented that the state government was not consulted prior to the establishment of the schools, otherwise it would have long prepared ahead of the announcement of their establishment.
“The unilateral decision of the Federal Government is what has caused whatever delay that is seen today,” Tilde said.
He warned that matters of education must not be “politicised while we appreciate the absolute powers of the Federal Government over its institutions”, emphasising that political pressure would not force the state government to sacrifice what would be in the best interest of the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a group called Bauchi Coalition of Youth and Students recently accused the state government of deliberate failure to allocate land for the establishment of three federal educational institutions in the state.
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