By Henry Umoru – Abuja

Senator representing Gombe South Senatorial District, Senator Bulus Amos has called on the federal government to establish a Federal College of Agriculture in Bambam, Gombe State.

The call was contained in a Bill sponsored by the Senator and read for the first time in the Senate.

The proposed College was expected to develop and offer academic and professional programmes leading to the award of Certificates, First Degrees, Post-graduate research, diploma and higher degrees with emphasis on planning, developmental and adaptive skills in technology, applied sciences, humanities, management, and allied professional disciplines.

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Speaking shortly after the Bill has passed through the first reading, Senator Amos explained that as an agrarian state, a College of Agriculture was desirable in the area to promote sound basic agricultural training as a foundation for food security and national development.

He said that when established, the College would also collaborate with other national and international institutions involved in training, research and development of Agriculture Education to promote governance, leadership and management skills among Agricultural managers.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Senator on Media & Publicity, Abdul Lauya on Thursday stated that some of the objectives of the College included “identifying agricultural needs of the society with a view to finding solutions to them within the context of overall national development.

“To provide and promote sound basic agriculture educational training as a foundation for the development of Nigeria, taking into account indigenous culture and need to enhance national unity.

“To provide higher education in agriculture and foster a systematic advancement of science and agriculture.

“To provide for instruction in such branches of agriculture teacher education as it may deem necessary to make provision for research advancement and dissemination of knowledge in such manner as may be determined.

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“And to undertake any other activities that are appropriate for a College of Agriculture of the highest standard among others.

The College will be supervised by the Federal Ministry of Education through the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), which shall be responsible for approving and regulating all academic programmes run in the College, to ensure quality compliance and provide funds for academic and research programmes, infrastructure and remuneration of employees.

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