The new Vice-Chancellor, who received the handing over notes at a simple ceremony at the university Senate Chamber from the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof Danladi Amodu Ameh on Thursday, also said all hands must be on deck to take the university to greater heights.
He quoted the world’s 18th century literary icon, Shakespeare, to justify his appeal on the need to work together in the overall interest of the university when he said the “world is a stage where everyone will act and go”.
The Vice-Chancellor, who expressed gratitude to his predecessor, Prof Ibrahim Garba, for all the good work he did for Ahmadu Bello University, and prayed to God to reward him abundantly and help him in his future endeavours.
Prof Bala pinpointed the lack of functional academic brief, inability to review the institution’s curricular and lack of master plan among many others as the major challenges facing the university at the moment.
He said the last time the institution’s curricular was reviewed was in 2012 and that was the very first time the university was able to review its curricula, saying also that the present curricular was due for review in 2017 but nothing was done.
The new VC stated: “We need to do a lot to catch up with the global trend. ABU had never had an academic brief, we don’t have the master plan for long, the last being the one produced in 1982, during the tenure of Prof Ango Abdullahi. Even the strategic plans we have do not synchronize.
“We have to raise these questions because of ABU’s strategic position. Unfortunately, we are now in an academic and intellectual environment where we don’t want to ask questions for fear that we may be tagged as the enemy of the system. All we have now all over is mediocrity”.
He said people looked up to ABU to solve their problems as the institution proffered solution in the past to challenges faced in agriculture, security and many other sensitive issues.
“When last did we have our discourse as a university? I could vividly remember when government would always rush to ABU to collect the analyses and recommendations after every public discourse organized by the then academics like Dr Yusuf Bala Usman of blessed memory,” Prof Bala said.
The Vice-Chancellor also said for the university to be run effectively and efficiently the committee system had to be revived as a statutory organ of the administration.
He described as heartwarming the establishment of COVID 19 samples testing centre in Ahmadu Bello University and urged members of the university community to continue to observe the social distancing practice, wearing of face-masks, hand washing and use of sanitizers.
Earlier in his remarks, the acting vice-chancellor, Prof Danladi Amodu Ameh, described the new VC as somebody with vast knowledge of the university, saying with Prof Kabir Bala in the saddle the university would fare well.
“The incoming Vice-Chancellor is not a stranger to us as he worked in various places in this university which we all cherish and love. He is a tested hand and so the university will be in a safe hand”, he said.
Prof Ameh, who described as ‘daunting’ the task assigned him as acting vice-chancellor, urged the university community and all other stakeholders to give the new Vice-Chancellor all the needed support to move the university forward.
It would be recalled that the Governing Council of Ahmadu Bello University had at its 189th Special Meeting on 22nd January approved the appointment of Prof Bala as new Vice-Chancellor for the institution.
Bala, a professor of construction management and the immediate past Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), took over from Prof Ibrahim Garba whose tenure expired today (30th April, 2020).
