Senate passes bill establishing transportation university in Daura

The senate has passed a bill establishing the Federal University of Transportation in Daura, Katsina state.

The upper legislative chamber passed the bill for third reading after Ahmad Babba Kaita, chairman of the committee on Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), presented a report.

While presenting the report on the floor of the senate on Wednesday, Kaita said the university would close the gap in knowledge of the transportation sector.

The senator said the university would create capacity and generate job opportunities for Nigerians.

According to him, the university, being the first of its kind in the West African sub-region, has the capacity of wooing foreign investors to the country.

“The envisaged university of transportation has immense benefits, especially in closing the huge gap in knowledge about transportation business and enhancing technical skills, while ensuring technology transfer from the most developed nations such as China, USA, South Korea, etc to benefit the Nigerian transportation industry,” Kaita said.

The federal executive council (FEC) had, in 2018, approved the construction of a $50 million transportation university to be located in Daura, Katsina state.

Plans for the establishment of the university had generated a controversy, but Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, defended the proposed project, saying there was nothing special about choosing the president’s hometown for the institution.

In August 2020, Amaechi had said the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) would build the university for free.

The minister had also said the estimated time for completion of the project was September 2021, but as of December 2021, it was yet to be completed.