Maiduguri — The Borno Government said, yesterday, that its proposed state university would take-off before the end of the year.

Governor Ali Modu Sheriff made the announcement while receiving an interim report on the university from the Technical Committee, led by Prof. Nur Alkali.

He said, “Both the executive and the legislature are eager to see the take-off of the university.

“We already proposed a draft bill for submission to the House, but we felt that we needed the Technical Committee’s input, so we don’t make any fundamental mistake.

“Once the bill is passed by the Assembly, the State Executive Council will meet to put in place machinery for the take-off of the university.”
Sheriff said government planned to set up another Technical Committee made up of mainly professionals, for the smooth take-off of the university to avoid hitches.

“This is to ensure that we put in place a solid foundation that will stand the test of time,” he added.

The governor explained that the absence of a state university had robbed the people of opportunities to acquire higher education in recent times.

“Borno, which was the capital of the defunct North-East region, is almost overtaken by most younger states in the region in terms of education.

“It is time to rectify the problem. The state has both the human and financial resources to accomplish the dream and we will no relent until we get to the dream land,” he added.

According to reports, the Alkali Committee presented three sites, out of which one will be chosen by the government for the proposed university.