Farmer Gov Bago declares free tuition as AKUM matriculates 809 students

Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, popularly known as the “Farmer Governor,” has announced free tuition for the 809 newly admitted students of Abdulkadir Kure University Minna (AKUM) for the 2024/2025 academic session.

Governor Bago made the declaration during the matriculation ceremony, also revealing that 2% of the state’s total investment will be dedicated as an endowment for the university. He emphasized that the state is committed to initiatives that will make AKUM a model institution, cancelling the previous plan to send students abroad on scholarships and redirecting the funds locally.

“It is not wrong for a leader to make a statement and retract it. We had planned to send some students abroad on scholarship, but I have decided to invest that money here,” he said.

The governor further announced plans to build a housing estate for staff and lecturers and confirmed that Medicine and Medical Sciences programmes will begin in the next academic session. He congratulated the matriculated students, urging them to be ambassadors of their families, and promised each student a bursary of N100,000.

Prof. Mohammed Aliyu Paiko, Vice Chancellor of AKUM, urged the students to view their matriculation as the start of a transformative experience that will prepare them to become job creators and enterprise builders. He acknowledged Governor Bago’s green economy initiatives and noted that the university aims to train students in sustainable agriculture, biotechnology, medical environmental sciences, ICT, AI, and renewable energy to support environmental stability.

The Pro Chancellor, Prof. Muhammad Yahaya Kuta, described Governor Bago as a visionary committed not only to infrastructural development but also to investing in education, stressing that the knowledge industry is key to global leadership.

The matriculation ceremony underscores the state government’s focus on education as a driver of sustainable development and youth empowerment.