The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC, Professor Abubakar Rasheed says, contrary to insinuations, he has not resigned over health grounds or corruption issues, but to pursue his ambition of attaining Professor Emeritus status.
At a formal handover ceremony in Abuja to the Deputy Executive Secretary, Administration, Chris Maiyaki, Professor Rasheed said, according to university regulatory provisions, a professor must attain the age of seventy, teaching in a classroom, before he can be confirmed as an Emeritus Professor.
MUST READ: ASUU, NUC fight dirty over New Curriculum
Rasheed hinted that the Nigerian University System is competing favourably with its counterparts around the world, and would only do better with adequate funding, and room for more privately owned universities.
In his acceptance, the Acting Executive Secretary, Chris Maiyaki, promised to consolidate the gains of the regulatory body, during the last seven years of Professor Rasheed’s administration, pending the appointment of a substantive Executive Secretary by President Bola Tinubu.
A former NUC executive secretary, Professor Julius Okogie, witnessed the handover and charged the NUC to always be upbeat, and to give Nigerian universities, public and private, the ultimate in standards, quality, and academic excellence.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)