{"id":2608,"date":"2019-12-01T01:38:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T01:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/?p=2608"},"modified":"2019-12-01T01:38:23","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T01:38:23","slug":"buratai-and-sadique-abubakar-establish-military-universities-in-their-hometowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/?p=2608","title":{"rendered":"Buratai and Sadique Abubakar Establish Military Universities in their Hometowns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The decision of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur\nBuratai; and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar; to situate\nthe Nigerian Army University and Nigerian Air Force University in their\nrespective hometowns has become a topic of debate.
\n
\nThe army university was established in 2018 in Biu, Borno State, where\nBuratai hails from while the proposed Air force University will be located in\nBauchi, where Abubakar is from.
\n
\nThe Army University has already been approved by the National\nUniversities Commission even as the Federal Executive Council gave its nod for\na N2bn take-off grant for the university which would be accessed from Tertiary\nEducation Trust Fund.
\n
\nLess than a year later, the Chief of Air staff has decided to\nreplicate Buratai\u2019s feat.
\n
\nIn a statement recently, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, hailed\nAbubakar for using his good offices to establish a university in the state.
\n
\nMohammed also commended the CAS for the earlier establishment of the\nAir Force Special Operation Command in Bauchi.
\n
\nThe governor observed that the Air force boss, being a \u201cworthy son of\nthe state\u201d, has contributed immensely towards the development of the state.
\n
\nWhile responding, Abubakar said arrangements had reached an advanced\nstage for the establishment of Air Force University in Bauchi as well as renovation\nand expansion of Azare airport.
\n
\nSpeaking with PUNCH, however, a human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana\n(SAN), described the establishment of universities in the hometowns of service\nchiefs as an abuse of office.
\n
\nFalana said it was unfortunate that service chiefs were taking actions\nin contravention of the federal character principle.
\n
\nHe said, \u201cThe Nigerian Defence Academy already exists and it awards\ncertificates. The same NDA is not well funded and yet the military is\nestablishing new universities in the hometowns of service chiefs.\nInterestingly, NDA, the army university and the new air force university and\nother institutions are mostly concentrated in the North. This is against the\nfederal character principle.\u201d
\n
\nTop military officers who spoke to PUNCH on the condition of\nanonymity, said the establishment of the new military universities were not\nonly the height of nepotism but abuse of taxpayers\u2019 funds.
\n
\nA brigadier-general, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition\nof anonymity said, \u201cWhat the service chiefs are doing is nothing but a waste of\ntaxpayers\u2019 money. It is even worse that the Federal Government is allowing them\nto do this at a time when we need to curb waste.
\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s even worse that our troops fighting insecurity are told there is\nnot enough money for equipment but there is money for new military\nuniversities.
\n
\n\u201cThe service chiefs have been in office for over four years and have\nturned themselves into politicians, taking projects to their hometowns like\nconstituency projects.\u201d
\n
\nAn Air Commodore, who also wished to remain anonymous, said there was\nalready an Air Force Institute of Technology in Kaduna which was approved by\nthe NUC.
\n
\nHe said the institute was already offering courses on aeronautics,\naerospace engineering and avionics and wondered why there was a need to\nestablish more institutions.
\n
\nHe said, \u201cFEC has approved N2bn for the takeoff of the army\nuniversity. That is already a waste of taxpayers\u2019 funds.
\n
\n\u201cWe already have AFIT in Kaduna which teaches aeronautics and other\nprofessional courses. The sad thing is that the army university is even\noffering courses like Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Arabic when it should be strictly\nspecialized courses.
\n
\n\u201cEven conventional public universities are complaining of lack of\nfunds. Is this the best time for the military to establish new schools?\u201d
\n
\nWhen contacted on the telephone, the Director of Information, NAF, Air\nCommodore Ibikunle Daramola, promised to call back but had yet to do so as of\npress time.
\n
\nSimilarly, the Spokesman for the Nigerian Army, Col. Sagir Musa, said\nhe would call back with a response but had not done so as of the time of filing\nthis report.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The decision of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai; and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar; to situate the Nigerian Army University and Nigerian Air Force University in their respective hometowns has become a topic of debate. The army university was established in 2018 in Biu, Borno State, where Buratai […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[5,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBuratai and Sadique Abubakar Establish Military Universities in their Hometowns » WatchDog Plus Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/?p=2608\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Odofin\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/?p=2608#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Education\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/?cat=5\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Buratai and Sadique Abubakar Establish Military Universities in their Hometowns\"}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Buratai and Sadique Abubakar Establish Military Universities in their Hometowns » WatchDog Plus Media","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/?p=2608","author":"Odofin","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/?p=2608#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Education","item":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/?cat=5"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Buratai and Sadique Abubakar Establish Military Universities in their Hometowns"}]}]}},"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique-300x139.jpg",300,139,true],"large":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",640,296,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false],"madd-magazine-blog-post":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false],"wpsso-schema-1x1":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false],"wpsso-schema-4x3":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false],"wpsso-schema-16x9":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false],"wpsso-thumbnail":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false],"wpsso-opengraph":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false],"wpsso-tc-summary":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique-600x315.jpg",600,315,true],"wpsso-tc-lrgimg":["https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Buratai-and-Sadique.jpg",720,333,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Odofin","author_link":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/?author=2"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/?cat=5\" rel=\"category\">Education<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/?cat=14\" rel=\"category\">News<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"The decision of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai; and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar; to situate the Nigerian Army University and Nigerian Air Force University in their respective hometowns has become a topic of debate. The army university was established in 2018 in Biu, Borno State, where Buratai…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2608"}],"version-history":[{"count":-4,"href":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchdogplusmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}