Yobe lawmakers promise stronger funding support for state university

The Yobe State House of Assembly has promised increased budgetary support for Yobe State University and assistance in securing interventions from relevant development agencies. The Speaker, Chiroma Mashio, made the commitment on Tuesday when the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Muhammad Tahir, led members of the management team on a courtesy and familiarisation visit to the Assembly.

Mashio said the university would be invited to participate in the 2027 budget defence. He said the Assembly would examine the institution’s needs after the state budget was presented and work towards ensuring adequate provision for its operations. The Speaker also pledged to support the university’s efforts to access funding from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, the Universal Basic Education Commission and other agencies.

He said platforms such as the Nigerian Speakers Conference could be used to facilitate those engagements. Mashio urged the university to advise the state government on problems affecting primary and secondary education. He said the quality of students entering tertiary institutions was connected to standards at the basic and secondary levels.

Tahir said his administration, which began in January 2026, was focused on academic excellence, accountability and greater community impact. He reported that the university had completed first- and second-semester examinations for the 2025/2026 session and accreditation processes for Medical Laboratory Science and Radiography. The Vice-Chancellor also said 16 medical doctors had been sponsored for foreign postgraduate training, while 32 academic staff received support for postgraduate study in Nigeria and 70 academic and non-academic staff joined in-house postgraduate programmes.

He listed a new Faculty of Computing, six postgraduate programmes and the commissioning of a Biomedical Science Research and Training Centre among the administration’s developments.