The Zamfara State Government said on Friday that it had plans to establish in 2018 its own university at Talata-Mafara town in Talata-Mafara Local Government Area of the state.
The state Commissioner for Science and Technical Education, Malam Ahmad Maradun, disclosed this after defending the 2018 budget proposal of the ministry in Gusau.
Maradun said the Abdu-Gusau Polythecnic, Talata-Mafara would be upgraded to the status of a university, while the polytechnic would be relocated to another local government area in the state.
He said: “Though the state government has not yet decided where the polytechnic will be relocated to, it has earmarked over N2 billion for the project in its 2018 budget proposal.
“You know the relocation of a tertiary institution, especially a polytechnic, is not an easy task. It involves building of structures. It also requires procurement of laboratory and workshop equipment, among others.
“In our 2018 budget proposal we are going to spend over N2 billion on the relocation of the polytechnic.”
The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that a committee had been set up to handle the establishment of the university.
Maradun added: “We will also spend about N1billion on the renovation of the Zamfara State College of Arts and Science, Gusau.”
He noted that the state government this year spent over N1 billion on renovating two science and technical education secondary schools in Talata-Mafara and Kaura-Namoda.
The commissioner said that two other schools had been identified for renovation in the 2018 budget proposal.
NAN recalls that Governor Abdul’aziz Yari on Monday presented a N130.7 billion budget proposal to the State House of Assembly.