ABUJA – Debate over the future of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, took centre stage as a Senate public hearing exposed deep divisions among stakeholders over a bill seeking to convert the institution from a specialised University of technology into a conventional university.
While some stakeholders welcomed the proposed amendment as a pathway to broaden academic opportunities, others warned that the move could weaken technological education in the North-East.
Former Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda, emerged as one of the strongest advocates of the conversion, insisting that the university’s current status limits access to critical courses needed for regional development.
Speaking at the hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Yuguda said the push for a conventional structure was driven by practical realities rather than sentiment.
He argued that several key disciplines, including economics and other social science and arts courses, were absent at ATBU, to the disadvantage of students in Bauchi State and neighbouring areas.
According to him, expanding the university’s mandate would correct long-standing gaps and reflect its evolving role.
In contrast, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), ATBU branch, firmly rejected the proposal.
The union maintained that the global trend favours stronger investment in science and technology institutions, not their dilution.
Its chairman, Haruna Angulu, cautioned that altering ATBU’s specialised status could erode its identity as the only university of technology in the North-East.
He said the union had already detailed its objections in a memorandum to the committee, stressing that improved funding and infrastructure, rather than conversion, should be the focus of legislative intervention.
Earlier, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the hearing was part of the legislature’s duty to subject laws affecting national institutions to broad scrutiny.
While acknowledging ATBU’s reputation in science, technology and innovation, he noted that the university had expanded beyond the scope originally defined by its enabling law, making a review necessary.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Muntari Dandutse, said the proposed amendment was designed to modernise ATBU’s governance framework and respond to present-day academic and administrative challenges.
He explained that the bill, which also seeks to widen the institution’s academic scope, had attracted strong and divergent opinions from academics, students, policymakers and industry experts.
According to him, the public hearing was intended to harvest informed perspectives that would guide the Senate’s final decision on the future direction of the university.
