VC of ATBU Prof Muhammad Abdulazez inspecting the donated computers by NPA
By Akanji Alowolodu, Bauchi
As part of its social responsibility and determination to promote research for development, an Information, Communication Technology (ICT) center that has 40 computer units as well as an e-library has been donated to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi by the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) specifically for use by the Remedial Students.
Senior Procurement Officer of NPA, Tukur Buba who made the donation and commissioned it on behalf of the NPA explained that the gesture was to help the remedial students improve their knowledge of ICT so as to become successful in their academic pursuit as well as encourage other forms of academic researches for development.
Tukur Buba said that, “Please and please, make a good use of these facilities so that our children unborn will come and use these facilities. The management of Nigerian Ports Authority is behind you, is eager and anxious to see your success in all your endeavours and they want these facilities to be used for the upliftment of education in this institution”.
He added that, “I enjoin you once again to make good use of it, no vandalization, these days, people regard government properties as nobody’s properties but this time around, I want you to regard these properties as if they were you own personal properties because after you make use of them, your children and grandchildren will come and make use of it maybe even with a better technology,”.
He then charged the students and other users of the facilities in the center to maintain them by guarding them against any form of vandalization just as they will do their personal effects.
In his response, the Vice Chancellor of ATBU, Professor Muhammed Abdulazeez, commended the NPA for coming to the rescue of the institution by donating the ICT Center saying that it will help the students reduce the search for physical books and aide the lecturers in their academic .
According to him, most students fail the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UMTE) mainly because of their lack of the knowledge of ICT saying that these would help the university transition from analog to digital.
The VC stated: “We have remedial students who are about writing the UTME, most students fail not because they don’t know the answer but because they don’t have knowledge about ICT. This is an advantage to such students because they can practice using these facilities” .
Muhammad Abdulazez added that, “I want to urge the Directorate that all tests for remedial should now turn to be CBT so that they will be conversant with the ICT and upgrade their knowledge because these are UTME questions.”
He also enjoined the students to take care of the facilities because, according to him, “if you destroy them, you are destroying our money and if you keep it, you are indirectly keeping our money. Know that whatever you do to these systems, someone somewhere will do it to you.”
The VC further declared that the institution targets that not just the students of ATBU will benefit from it but students outside the University will also come to use the UTME facilities “because we are trying to make sure that everybody in Nigeria has access to quality education and access to university education.”
Later in an interview, the Director of Basic and Remedial Studies of ATBU, Professor Hamma Sabo, said that the Center will have a great impact on the students.
He said that, “This is a digital laboratory. Library is very critical in the development of education. In fact, any academic institution without a library is completely academically irrelevant. Library has migrated to an information science where you can communicate, get latest information, latest books do all your information activities.”
