"CLOSED INSTITUTIONS; KADUNA GOVERNOR IMMEDIATE RE-OPENING

In his determined bid to ensure that students in the state's tertiary institutions do not suffer unjustly in their educational pursuits, the Kaduna state Governor, Malam Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai has ordered for the immediate re-opening of tertiary institutions closed down.



The affected institutions are; the College of Education, Gidan Waya, Kaduna State
University (KASU), Kafanchan campus and school of Nursing and Midwifery, Kafanchan.

Malam el-Rufai who gave the directive during the week while meeting with some Southern Kaduna elders in his office, said government decided to reopen all tertiary institutions in southern Kaduna due to improvements in the security situation in the area.

He explained that the state government will henceforth adopt a multi-campus structure for all its tertiary institutions where at least one tertiary institution would be assigned to every local government area in the state.

According to the Kaduna State Chief Executive, "the new policy has been approved by the State Executive Council as a means to further expand access to higher education, make accreditation of courses more cost-effective and respond
concretely to the desire by several communities to host tertiary institutions".

El-Rufai explained that "a multi-campus structure will help to make the state’s tertiary institutions more inclusive and expand the range of courses that students can study by making most courses available in all campuses".

“Memo presented to the State Executive Council indicates that the government hopes that the various campuses spread across the state can over time evolve into fully-fledged universities in their own right. That is how the campuses of the University of California system and those of the University of London have
evolved", he said.

“This government is committed to transforming the state university into a world-class university. Part of the transition to a multi-campus structure entails moving
the main campus of KASU itself to be a purpose-built main facility behind the NTI in Rigachikun", he emphasized.

The governor thanked the delegation, which included Air Commodore Emmanuel Jekada (Rtd) and Bishop George Dodo, Catholic Bishop of Zaria, for helping to stabilise and restore peace in the affected local governments.

Members of the delegation applauded the governor for reopening the schools and for adopting the multi-campus structure.

Bishop Dodo, in his address said that it is clear that the government has good
intentions, and is doing a lot, but he urged more efforts at communicating what is being done.

Air Commodore Jekada pledged that they will continue to support and coopetate with the government foir peace and development in Southern Kaduna, expressed appreciation to security agencies and the state government for working to restore order and make a return to normalcy possible.