Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu and eight other members of the House of Representatives have sponsored a bill seeking to establish Bola Tinubu University of Nigerian Languages.
The lawmakers said the bill intended to deepen the promotion and learning of Nigerian languages.
If the National Assembly approves the bill, the university will join the growing number of universities in Nigeria. It could also become another institution named after an incumbent president the Muhammadu Buhari University of Transportation created by Tinubu’s predecessor in Daura, Katsina State, during his eight-year tenure.
The proposed university would run programmes leading to awarding diplomas, first degrees, and other postgraduate degrees.
To “Encourage the advancement of learning and to hold out to all persons without distinction of race, creed, sex or political conviction, the opportunity of acquiring a higher education in Nigerian languages and cultures,” Section II, Part I of the bill read.
“Develop and offer academic and professional programmes leading to the award of diplomas, first degrees, postgraduate research, and higher degrees with an emphasis on planning, adaptive, developmental, and productive skills in Nigerian languages and cultures.
“Producing socially mature persons with the capacity to communicate, understand and use Nigerian languages for national development.”
The bill’s sponsors wrote that the school would “Act as agents and catalysts, through postgraduate training, research, and innovation for the effective and economic utilization, exploitation and conservation of Nigeria’s natural, economic and human resources.
“Establish appropriate relationships with other national institutions involved in training, research, and development of Nigerian languages and cultures.
“Provide and promote sound basic training as a foundation for the development of Nigerian languages as well promote and emphasize teaching and research activities around Nigerian languages, including outreach programmes, in-service training, continuing education, and adaptive research,” among others.
Like other federal universities, the bill stated that the president would be the sole visitor to the proposed Bola Tinubu University of Nigerian Languages.
“As often as the circumstances may require, not being less than once every five years, conduct a visitation of the university or direct that such a visitation be conducted by such person or persons as the visitor may deem fit and in respect of any of the affairs of the university,” the bill said in Section 14 (2).
“It shall be the duty of the bodies and persons comprising the university to make available to the visitor and to any other person conducting a visitation in pursuance of this section, such facilities and assistance as he or they may reasonably require for a visitation.”
In Section 15 (1), the bill stated that “If it appears to the council that a member of the council (other than the pro-chancellor or the vice-chancellor) should be removed from office on the ground of misconduct or inability to perform the functions of his office or employment, the council shall make a recommendation to that effect through the Minister to the President after making such inquiry, if any, as may be considered appropriate.
“If the President approves the recommendation, he may direct the removal of the person in question from office.”
Many Nigerian universities grapple with the problem of underfunding. This has been perennially highlighted by the strike actions undertaken by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The University of Ibadan (UI) recently told its students that a sudden upward review was due to “the current economic realities” in Nigeria.
When approved, the proposed institution runs the risk of facing the same funding and infrastructural challenges that have remained unsolved in existing federal educational institutions.