Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, has ordered for the immediate re-opening of the tertiary institutions closed down in Southern Kaduna.

The schools were closed down since December following the crises in the area.

The schools are College of Education, Gidan Waya, Kaduna State University (KASU), Kafanchan campus and school of Nursing and Midwife, Kafanchan.

The governor gave the directive while meeting with some Southern Kaduna elders in his office, Tuesday.

He said the government decided to reopen all tertiary institutions in southern Kaduna due to improvements in the security situation in the area.

The governor also explained that the state government will henceforth adopt a multi-campus structure for all its tertiary institutions where at least one tertiary institution would be assigned to every local government area in the state.

He said new policy has been approved by the State Executive Council as a means to further expand access to higher education, make accreditation of courses more cost-effective and respond concretely to the desire by several communities to host tertiary institutions.

He explained that a multi-campus structure will help to make the state’s tertiary institutions more inclusive and expand the range of courses that students can study by making most courses available in all campuses.

He said, “Memo presented to the State Executive Council indicates that the government hopes that the various campuses spread across the state can over time evolve into fully-fledged universities in their own right. That is how the campuses of the University of California system and those of the University of London have evolved.

“The governor also said his government is committed to transforming the state university into a world-class university.

“Part of the transition to a multi-campus structure entails moving the main campus of KASU itself to be a purpose-built main facility behind the NTI in Rigachikun.”

The governor thanked the delegation, which included Air Commodore Emmanuel Jekada (Rtd) and Bishop George Dodo, Catholic Bishop of Zaria, for helping to stabilise and restore peace in the affected local governments.

Members of the delegation applauded the governor for reopening the schools and for adopting the multi-campus structure.

Bishop Dodo said that it is clear that the government has good intentions, and is doing a lot, but he urged more efforts at communicating what is being done.

Air Commodore Jekada expressed appreciation to security agencies and the state government for working to restore order and make a return to normalcy possible.

He pledged that they will continue to support and cooperate with the government for peace and development in southern Kaduna.

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