Let Go of Kabba College, Obaro Pleads With ABU
The Obaro of Kabba and the Chairman of the Okun Traditional Council, Oba Solomon Dele Owoniyi has urged the authorities of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to drop their opposition to the upgrading of the College of Agriculture, Kabba to a full fledged university.
Oba Owoniyi spoke in Abuja yesterday at a public hearing held by the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND.
The hearing was held as part of the processes for the consideration of a bill for the establishment of the Federal University of Agriculture, Kabba.
The bill proposes to convert the campus of the college to the new university.
The college was established by the government of the defunct Northern Region in 1964 and handed to ABU to use as a campus in 1971.
In his remarks at the hearing yesterday, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Baba Kaita had told the assembled stakeholders that his panel had so far received 35 memoranda, none of which opposed the establishment of the university.
However, in his own address, Oba Owoniyi said ABU strongly opposed the conversion of the College to the proposed university at a similar public hearing by the 8th Senate. He said there was no indication the institution has dropped its opposition.
Quoting a popular Yoruba adage, the traditional ruler said ABU should let go of the college “because when you give a goat to somebody, you let go of the rope on the neck of the goat.”
Oba Owoniyi said statistics from the college indicated that its facilities were grossly underutilized and urged all men and women of goodwill to help persuade the ABU authorities to release the facilities for use in establishing the proposed university.
Noting that the total number of graduates from the college since its establishment in 1964 was not more than 4,000, the Oba said even with the inclusion of training students for the Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB), the total population of the institution at present is just 76.
In his own address, the National President, Okun Development Association (ODA), Mr. Femi Mokikan went down memory lane recalling the various efforts of the Okun people to get the government to establish a university in the area, particularly in Kabba, based on the large numbers of qualified students unable to secure university admission each year and the ample human resources available.
Mokikan said the establishment of the university would impact the educational, economic and social lives of the immediate environment which he said would indirectly facilitate the realization of the goal of the Federal Government to pull Nigerians out of poverty.
He also noted that the institution, when on stream, would provide an opportunity and easy access to the nation’s teeming youths, particularly those of Okun extraction to higher education that is within reach.
That, he added would reduce the population of youths who are qualified for admission to tertiary institutions but unable to find a place due to limited facilities.
Mokikan said the proposed university would reinforce, consolidate and promote the food security agenda of the Federal and State Governments as well as increase the tempo of the nation’s overall economic development through increased diversification of the economy and provide a buffer against the volatility of oil earnings.
Apart from enhancing the employability of the nation’s youths and thus reduce unemployment and its associated evils, the ODA President said the university, if established, would increase the tempo of the Nigeria’s overall economic development through increased diversification of the economy and provide a buffer against the volatility of oil earnings.
In his words, the institution would also be a rich source of innovation through its research efforts and would
further improve the nation’s emplacement on the global stage.
Declaring the support of the members of a group, the Kogi West Elders Forum for the quest for a university in Okunland, its spokesman, Dr David Atte said the existing College of Agriculture, Kabba, had never been able to make a considerable impact on the desire of a great number of applicants in its catchment area to enter the university each year.
That, the group noted, had negatively impacted on manpower development not only in the Senatorial District but also in Kogi State and Nigeria as a whole.
The group also noted that due to its affiliation status to a distant administrative campus , the college had not been able to adequately explore the vast agricultural resources of its area for good research and food production purposes.
The group pledged to fully support the university and do all in its power to mobilise support, from far and near, for its take-off and smooth running when approved.
Declaring the request for a full fledged Federal University to be sited in Kabba, as genuine, laudable, credible, overdue and possessing all the merits deserving favourable consideration by the relevant authorities, the group said Okunland having a high numbers of professors and university teachers, was in dire need of the inst.
The public hearing was attended by traditional rulers, political office holders, academics, community leaders and various other groups from the Kogi West Senatorial District.