John Laah, chairman of the Southern Kaduna Professors Forum (SKPF), has called for support for the establishment of the proposed Federal University of Applied Sciences in Kachia, Kaduna state.
Addressing journalists in Kaduna, Laah also chided those criticising the location of the university, saying no matter where the institution is located, it will be of benefit to all Nigerians, not just the local population.
He commended Sunday Marshall Katung, the senator representing Kaduna South Senatorial zone for initiating the bill for the establishment of the university.
Laah appealed to President Bola Tinubu to sign the bill establishing the institution into law so as to provide more opportunities to Nigerians.
He said, the SKPF had been at the forefront of having a university in the Southern part of Kaduna state.
“We cover 12 local governments in Kaduna State and our forum has 186 members.
“These 186 members are not foreigners, they are all professors from Southern Kaduna.
“In 2018, we had the privilege of pushing for this university and of course, under Senator Danjuma Laah, it was Federal University of Science and Technology Manchok.
“But the truth is that there was a bill to convert the Federal School of Statiatics to Federal University of Science and Technology”, Laah said.
He regretted that there had been a lot of misinformation concerning the location of the institution which needs to be corrected.
He said the forum is concerned about locating a university within Southern Kaduna.
“We felt that once the university is located in southern part of Kaduna, it is likely to engineer some development and grant our youths who are largely unemployed some skills and opportunities to be self reliant.
“So the establishment of this university is dear to us as professors and academics from Southern Kaduna”, he said.
He explained further that “the university was proposed to be located in Manchok, Kaura LGA, when we went for public hearing, it was Federal University of Applied Sciences abinitio.
“The argument and the objection was that the senator was taking everything to his local government (Zangon Kataf LGA).
“I must also say that the decision to change the location of the university from Manchok to Kachia is a child of necessity.
“Our commitment is to reduce the obstacles toward having a federal university in Southern Kaduna.
“I must tell you that the Southern Kaduna professors were part of the decision. We were consulted and we acted, we contributed.”
The university, according to Laah, is not intended to be a “Southern Kaduna University” but a “Federal University,” with its location in the region which will go a long way in addressing the development needs of the area.
