The Plateau State University (PLASU), Bokkos, is among six universities to enjoy N3bn high-impact intervention from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in 2019.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Yohana Izam, disclosed this Wednesday during an interactive session at the 6th meeting of congregation of the university which he chaired for the first time since assumption of office in 2017.
Izam said that the funds from the high impact intervention would go a long way in addressing the infrastructure deficit of the institution and reposition it for global competitiveness.
“This intervention from TETFund will go a long way in fast-tracking the process of growth and development of PLASU to catch up with other universities in the country.
“Since the inception of PLASU in 2005, the university has maintained four faculties, which explains the urgent need to increase the programmes being run by the institution in order to create access for the youth both in terms of admission and employment.
“Already, there is hope that with additional capital grants from the state government, more facilities and additional faculties would be provided while some existing structures will be renovated to accommodate more programmes,” he said.
The vice chancellor also informed the congregation that projects hitherto abandoned were being completed, including the 600-capacity lecture theatre, the Faculty of Social Sciences and a multi-purpose centre, which on completion, would be used for the take-off of the Faculty of Law.
He described 2019 as the “year of infrastructure development”, having yielded the desired result with the completion of the “abandoned 600 Lecture Theatre which will be commissioned by the chairman of governing council of the university, Professor Attahiru Muhammadu Jega soon.
He said the contracts for the construction of the Faculty of Health Sciences building, the University Health Centre, Mass Communication Department and the university’s mini stadium were at various stages of completion.
Izam said, the contractors were expected to complete and hand over the projects to the university next year.
On the issue of the School of Postgraduate Studies, the vice chancellor said that the soil tests of the site and the drawings were ready and “as soon as approval is given, other processes that will lead to the construction would commence.”
He appealed for cooperation and harmonious working relationship with staff of the university to enable the management carry out its planned programmes and policies.
He said the doors of the university’s management would remain open for meaningful dialogue with unions and associations in the university. He however, warned that indolence and laziness would not be tolerated as efforts had been made to address staff welfare issues.
