The outgoing Vice Chancellor of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) in Bauchi, Prof. Muhammad Ahmed Abdulazeez, has recommended mandatory drug tests on academic staff across Nigerian universities to assess their mental well-being.
The VC made the call while delivering his valedictory speech to the Senate of the University held at the Senate Building, Gubi Campus, on Friday.
He posited that both students and lecturers should be made to undergo such tests to sanitize the system.
He expressed confidence that drug tests will promote sanity and academic excellence in the nation’s university system in line with the objective of establishing them.
“If the students are to be subjected to drug tests to determine their mental health status, there is nothing wrong if the lecturers too are subjected to the same test.
“That is the only way to check excesses in the university system,” he stressed.
Giving account of his stewardship in the past five years as VC, Abdulazeez explained that he has played his own part in collective effort towards improving academic excellence in the institution.
“The modest achievements we have recorded in the areas of infrastructural development, academic content development and community services could not have been possible without the support of all stakeholders in the system,” he stated
He expressed gratitude to the Federal government for the support rendered to the University through the Federal Ministry of Education and its various agencies such as the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND)
He also announced that the University Senate has elected Prof. Sani Usman Kunya to succeed him as the acting Vice-Chancellor pending the election of a substantive one.
However, while giving acceptance speech, the acting Vice Chancellor, Professor Sani Usman Kunya affirmed his commitment to upholding academic standards and fostering innovation.
Kunya promised to operate an open-door policy, soliciting the input of colleagues and stakeholders for the advancement of the institution.