Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by Quintuple: 11:21pm On Sep 15, 2018 |
Why ATBU can’t employ graduate that built drone – VC
Professor Saminu Ibrahim, Vice Chancellor of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi Vice Chancellor of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, Professor Saminu Ibrahim, explains why the university could not employ its graduate that built a drone.
Are you making any attempt to promote academic research?
The university started in 1980 with 100 students and at the present we have over 18,000 undergraduates and 4,000 postgraduate students. The student population is between 22,000 and 23,000 and one of the qualities of our strength is engineering, to the extent that all our engineering courses have been accredited. We are doing very well especially from the feedback we are getting from the end users of our products and we are making effort to improve. We have about 2,800 personnel out of which 1,000 are academic staff.
The National Automotive Council has visited ATBU and commissioned some specialised equipment it donated to the Department of Automotive Engineering. We are one of the first universities to start the course, as well as Mechatronics and Systems Engineering and Computer and Communication.
The university was set up by government with the capacity to carry 5,000 students because of the gap between researchers and entrepreneurs. We have a lot of ideas and inventions that ended only on shelves and we are trying to close the gap between the academia and the entrepreneurs with government providing enabling environment so that the inventions would end up as products for people to use. That is why the university has chosen to establish Science and Technology Park.
ATBU has taken membership of the World Technopolis Association (WTA) which would, together with similar bodies, play a part in the development of the park. We have also formed partnership with universities within and outside the country and most especially with the Chungnam National University (CNU), Daejeon, Korea, to strengthen research and development while a number of partners have offered to set up ICT hubs in the park.
Another organisation is helping us to establish an incubation center and with the support of the National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), we shall have something on ground.
Apart from the specialised courses you are supposed to offer, you also run management courses. Does that not distract you?
We offer accounting, information technology and business management. And what is happening is that there are a lot of interactions among the courses. If you look at Apple Technology Company for example, you will think it relies more on technology but a lot of art is going on in the development of ideas and the products of the company. There has to be a marriage. Most of the time, unfortunately, scientists are not good businessmen, and that is why some our products are ending up where they are. So, you need those that are good in marketing and art to complement the scientists to move our products from the level of research and development into useful products that can bring some money to the nation. Again, you need to train people to manage resources and research activities.
Many universities tended to fail in research because they haven’t got good research management sections. You may have good researchers, but if you don’t have good units to manage the research, you would end up with good researches on the shelves, that are useless. The essence of the research is to change the environment and humanity.
The law establishing ATBU allows it to award degrees in technology, medical and allied sciences.
A researcher from the university studying in Malaysia recently said one of the major problems with technological and scientific research is lack of funds. How do you address that?
We visited the National Assembly where they are trying to amend our law. However, one of the first things is that we have to find a way of prioritising because we need funding in so many ways. We are trying to see how we can generate more funds for the university; we have discussed with some stakeholders. Certainly, if you look at the universities abroad, they don’t necessarily rely on government funds but on their alumni and endowments. One university abroad got an endowment of N1.3 billion from an organization to establish a college of medicine. These things don’t happen in our society. Even our own alumni, are only beginning to realize they have to help the system. So, there is a big funding gap generally and especially for research. At a point we used to have what we called Research and Publication Committee, which does not exist now because it is not needed. At that point the government was giving some funds for research and that committee sat down to appropriate funds for people that have shown interest or presented some proposals. But with time, even the research institutes that are established for specific researches are only getting money enough to pay salaries. That made it very difficult for people to make progress because the development of a university is tied to research and paper writing. In fact, we have established a Directorate of Research and Innovation as one of the ways to coordinate ourselves and see how we can get more research funds. We have had some workshops on how to write fundable research proposals because there is a lot of money on research but if you don’t write a good proposal that can sell, you can’t get that money.
People don’t normally rely on internal institutional research funds because no institution has enough funds; you need to go outside and for you to compete outside, you need the ability to write good proposals. We have about five proposals with the World Bank.
You are among the first universities to install Automotive Engineering. What led to that decision and what are its benefits over other engineering courses?
This is a national priority. The Federal Government decided to run these three courses even though it coincided with our own thoughts. They started the pilot by choosing universities that they believed are strong in engineering and ATBU happened to be one of them in addition to two others. But few other universities are separately running the courses thereafter.
I believe the benefits would be enormous because motorized vehicles are important means of transportation for people and cargo. As it is now, we are consumers rather than contributors in the automotive industry and with the coming of these courses we shall have little input to humanity with regard to research and development in the industry. Students would learn how to build and maintain motor vehicles but most importantly develop their capacity to think and be innovative.
What type of academic partnership do you have with foreign universities?
Normally, you sign MoU on staff and students exchange as well as joint research. But our partnership with Chungnam University is on general research and the establishment of a technology park.
How do you deal with the large number of applicants for your programmes?
It has been a huge challenge because no university has the capacity to accommodate all its applicants in spite of the need for us to provide access to quality education. You would have between 15,000 and 20,000 applicants annually but you can only admit 4,000 students. We feel so bad because we really want to give much access to people but we are limited by the quota which we cannot exceed. Each course has its own student-teacher ratio and for courses that don’t need laboratories, it is between 30:1 and 35:1. For engineering and science programmes, where you need labs, the ratio is between 15:1 and 20:1. Many people said today’s graduates are not employable. Why?
I don’t believe that, because our work in the university is to give general training and make students creative but it is not possible to teach somebody to fit into a specific job. Many employers are happy with Nigerian graduates. We have a student who graduated with a third class degree and has been able to build a drone and did his youth service with the military.
Unfortunately, we could not employ him because our condition of service does not allow us to employ graduates with third class degrees, and we regretted it because we would have held on to this guy; he would have been an asset to us.
How do you keep peace within the university?
Promotion and maintenance of peace isn’t the work of the V-C alone, you have to have people to help you and I have been lucky. The council and the senate are vital in peace keeping because the senate actually handles student issues including discipline and award of degrees. Also, the university is based on committee system; everything from entry, matriculation up to graduation and convocation, has a committee. And that is the beauty of the university; you can rely on a committee if you have good people there. Other people that help to keep peace in the university are the Dean of Student Affairs, Chairman of Security Committee and the Public Relations Unit; it is a collective effort. We are actually lucky because our students are well-behaved and engaged all the time. https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/why-atbu-cant-employ-graduate-that-built-drone-vc.html 3 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by ikbnice(m): 6:45am On Sep 16, 2018 |
Some graduates with third class are not poor academically, it is either the frustrating nature of Nigerian schools or the frustrating nature of the economy that drove them down there. 146 Likes 6 Shares |
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Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by ellalina(f): 8:10am On Sep 16, 2018 |
Lol Your policy your loss 29 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by addicted268(f): 8:17am On Sep 16, 2018 |
Just imagine...it still boils down to having a high value for certification over intelligence.sad. 131 Likes 6 Shares |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by Nobody: 8:23am On Sep 16, 2018 |
addicted268: Just imagine...it still boils down to having a high value for certification over intelligence.sad. U have said it all 38 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by saintjimos(m): 8:41am On Sep 16, 2018 |
OH NIGERIA AND RUBBISH POLICY 6 Likes |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by Joeguyski(m): 8:43am On Sep 16, 2018 |
Nigerian education system..
What a messed up policy.
A disma pisma 8 Likes |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by fratermathy(m): 8:46am On Sep 16, 2018 |
The guy must not be a lecturer. He could have been employed as a technical staff, instructor, or something of sorts. Nigeria is a messed up nation where talent is not encouraged. Unfortunately, this talented dude may find himself better appreciated abroad and he won't return. 65 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by Moblord(m): 8:58am On Sep 16, 2018 |
How many times do I have to tell you that Grades doesn't measure intelligence and age doesn't define maturity 12 Likes |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by id4sho(m): 9:04am On Sep 16, 2018 |
Iffa hear, Many Federal Government Staffs are 3rd class holders. with 700k-1.5m legit juicy jobs are bought daily. you all heard me well 11 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by julius976(m): 10:04am On Sep 16, 2018 |
So? because he is a third class graduate. make I bust una Brain. Do you know that the owner of Stelladimokokorkus.com is a third class student of uniben. she worked for a magazines and now owns a blog she operate from Germany. she is among the most read blog in Nigeria. Companies should not use 3rd class as a criteria of employing people because first class can be purchase by people who know way. 15 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by ericsimons18: 10:17am On Sep 16, 2018 |
The smart ones really don't care about chasing grades. I am an example. Exams and quiz are drags to me Cuse its a f-ucking waste of time.
I can't compete with the 95% of the class that cares only about passing exams i think it be littles my intellegence.
The lecturers never truely impact any useful knowledge they just photocopy or dictate word for word what they thought a decade ago and photocopy or make little changes to the past questions. Seriously i wouldn't waste a breath trying to be the best of such systems. Missed more classes when i was in school cuse each class seemed like it was meant to make me dumb or dull.
Only few schools actually impact knowledge in regards to higher institution.
And there is issues of sorting or mandatory bribes. The smart ones i mean actual smart ones don't always concor. (When i say smart i mean smart not sharp in the nigerian sense to do anything just to get by)
No one is looking into the first and third paragraph becuse they feel thats how education should be.
For me if i can't afford a good school for my kids or school them abroad, I will buy them unlimited data and expose them to YouTube. Trust me i will. And sign them up on skillshare.
Youtube & skillshare was and is my teacher and school and i am amazing in everything i do. 60 Likes 3 Shares |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by Nobody: 10:36am On Sep 16, 2018 |
Quintuple: Excerpt from the ATBU VC's interview
Many people said today’s graduates are not employable. Why? I don’t believe that, because our work in the university is to give general training and make students creative but it is not possible to teach somebody to fit into a specific job. Many employers are happy with Nigerian graduates. We have a student who graduated with a third class degree and has been able to build a drone and did his youth service with the military. Unfortunately, we could not employ himecause our condition of service does not allow us to employ graduates with third class degrees, and we regretted it because we would have held on to this guy; he would have been an asset to us.
Read the full interview here https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/why-atbu-cant-employ-graduate-that-built-drone-vc.html The reason the white folks are better, there is no segregation over there. A prisoner can work in the white house if he/she got something to offer. We depend too much on paper reason alot of folks do all their possible best to get this 2.1 ( blocking, sleeping with lecturers). 3 Likes 2 Shares |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by giddykay: 11:17am On Sep 16, 2018 |
What is d worth of certificates when you remain stupid and unproductive. Here's someone with potentials that could emancipate the country from technological retrogression... There you said he graduated with 3rd class... Who first class epp..... Until we shift theoretically to practicability..then there will be a change.... Bunch of myopic and intellectually dogmatised buffalo... 19 Likes 3 Shares |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by Wiseandtrue(f): 12:11pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
Quintuple: Excerpt from the ATBU VC's interview
We have a student who graduated with a third class degree and has been able to build a drone and did his youth service with the military. Unfortunately, we could not employ himecause our condition of service does not allow us to employ graduates with third class degrees, and we regretted it because we would have held on to this guy; he would have been an asset to us.
Read the full interview here https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/why-atbu-cant-employ-graduate-that-built-drone-vc.html VC use your discretion!!!
This is someone that can do what some people with first class cannot do!!!
So there is always an exception
If this kind guy enter abroad na hot cake but here we don't appreciate our own
Not until he is celebrated outside
Mtcheeeeeew 3 Likes |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by Macgabe(m): 1:29pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
addicted268: Just imagine...it still boils down to having a high value for certification over intelligence.sad. That is it. In everything in Nigeria, certificate comes first not minding how its gotten. If a third class graduate can do that, its enough reason to investigate his scripts to know why the third class. But this is Nigeria where things are always done in the reverse to the conventional way. God help us!!! 6 Likes 1 Share |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by LOVEGINO(m): 2:04pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
Macgabe:
That is it. In everything in Nigeria, certificate comes first not minding how its gotten. If a third class graduate can do that, its enough reason to investigate his scripts to know why the third class. But this is Nigeria where things are always done in the reverse to the conventional way. God help us!!! amen my brother. |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by LOVEGINO(m): 2:09pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
If this niggα should get a break through offshore now, my beloved government will start fight for their property. Enemies of progress everywhere. 1 Like |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by abumeinben(m): 2:37pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
I'm still try to figure out what the VC has built in his theoretical life 8 Likes |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by BruncleZuma: 2:52pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
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Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by Davidfash10000: 2:53pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
Ok |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by CodeTemplar: 2:54pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
ppp |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by Pharaoh001(f): 2:54pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
ffs |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by LZAA: 2:55pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
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Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by peterkul(m): 2:56pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
tragedies of a nation.... |
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Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by LZAA: 2:58pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
BiggyB242:
The reason the white folks are better, there is no segregation over there. A prisoner can work in the white house if he/she got something to offer. We depend too much on paper reason alot of folks do all their possible best to get this 2.1 ( blocking, sleeping with lecturers). Errr NO prisoner can work in the white house Being arrested for a offence is what is overlooked Once u are imprisoned forget public service 3 Likes |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by Sunofgod(m): 3:00pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
shitholee country |
Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by donziller(m): 3:01pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
rubbish, u graduate d guy mr. VC, if u cant employ ur own product who go help u employ him 1 Like |
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Re: Why We Can't Employ The ATBU Graduate Who Built Drone - VC by nabegibeg: 3:02pm On Sep 16, 2018 |
1 Like |