Rufai blames Abuja university authorities for students’ woes

Ruquyyat Rufai, minister of education, on Thursday refused to accept blames for the plight of students of the University of Abuja.

Rufai, who spoke at a public hearing organised by the House Committee on Education, however, blamed the institution’s governing council and Senate for the problems that led to the crisis in the school.

This followed blames by members of the committee, who fingered the ministry and the National Universities Commission (NUC) for allowing illegal courses to be run in the school because of complacency in regulatory duties.

The lawmakers particularly noted that if the two agencies had acted from the beginning, the number of casualties the incident has claimed would have been significantly less.

But the minister, who insisted that there is a system in every institution, noted that the one in the University of Abuja is ineffective.

“The university has a governing council comprising of the president, representatives of the Ministry of Education, representatives of the regulatory agencies and the National Universities Commission (NUC) that is supposed to be the eye of the visitor from the Ministry of Education.”

TEDDY NWANUNOBI, Abuja