President Bola Tinubu has given his approval for the Yaba College of Technology, or YABATECH, to become a university, according to Education Minister Tunji Alausa.
On Friday, while on a working visit to the college, he disclosed this. In addition to stating that the institution is an enduring legacy, Alausa added it is prepared and suitable to become a full-fledged university.
According to him: “The Rector said some minutes ago that the staff, students and management of the college have been praying and fasting that it be converted to a university. Somehow, you have kind of ambushed me, but I must let you know that when I discussed the issue with President Bola Tinubu, he did not waste time in approving. I am just waiting for the memo and other necessary protocols from the appropriate quarters.
“This school is a legacy and with over 200 staff members holding doctorate degrees in various fields, it is more than ready and fit to become a university. All the credit about this should go to the President who loves education and is concerned about giving the best to the youths who are our future leaders,” he added.
The Minister expressed pleasure with the maintenance culture of management while touring the institution to check and inaugurate a few developments. He said: “I commend you for pursuing excellence, and we need innovation and investments in technology for development, and I can assure you that the federal government would back you up.”
Alausa pointed out that addressing the Japa Syndrome is one of the reasons the Tinubu administration is emphasizing technical and vocational education and incorporating entrepreneurship into it.
Continuing, he had this to say: “We are not taking the issue of Artificial Intelligence, robotics, coding and others with levity. We know that if our youths are good at those things, they can be in Nigeria and working for firms in many parts of the world and they will be earning foreign exchange. That will help stem this Japa of a thing, where people would travel abroad to do menial jobs.”
The Minister claims that Nigeria has shifted its focus from generating graduates who are constantly seeking white-collar professions to abandoning technical and vocational education for more than thirty years. He stated: “In Europe and other places, the focus has been on incorporating TVET to become a core aspect of their education system and that is what we are doing now. We need education that would aid manufacturing and technological innovations and that would also lead to a robust private sector which will drive societal growth and development.”
Dr. Ibrahim Abdul, the Rector, had previously stated that YABATECH was more than competent to become a university because it employed more than 200 PhD holders. He said: “While we are praying that we become a university, we don’t want to become just one of those universities. We want to be a university of Technical and Vocational Education that would bring innovation and also solve societal problems and challenges, and contribute greatly to the advancement of our dear country. We have the manpower and we just need the support of the government in this regard.”
He emphasized his administration’s many accomplishments and declared that the management would not give up on raising the college to new heights. In addition to thanking the minister for the visit, Governing Council chairman Prof. Funso Afolabi asked for his assistance in ensuring their demands were addressed.
BrandSpur national news stories report that the law that would specify the College’s new status and name is anticipated to be sent to the National Assembly for approval and the president’s signature.
