Katsina Varsity Flags Staff Shortage, Seeks Recruitment

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

The management of the Katsina state-owned Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University (UMYU) has raised concern over staff shortages affecting several of its academic programmes and called for urgent recruitment to meet accreditation and teaching requirements.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Shehu Salihu Muhammad, made the appeal Saturday during the institution’s 14th convocation ceremony, where he reviewed the university’s progress and outlined key challenges facing its continued expansion.

He said the university requires additional academic staff across multiple departments to satisfy accreditation benchmarks set by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and to replace personnel who have exited the system through retirement, resignation and transfers.

He noted that while the university has expanded significantly in student enrolment and programme offerings, staff strength has not grown at the same pace, creating pressure in some faculties.

He stressed that recruiting qualified lecturers and researchers would help stabilise the affected programmes, strengthen teaching and supervision, and sustain the university’s academic standards.

He said: “We are extremely grateful for the continued support of the Visitor (Governor Dikko Umaru Radda) to the university. However, there is still a pressing need for additional academic staff, especially in programmes undergoing accreditation and those expanding in scope.”

Despite the staffing challenge, the vice-chancellor said the university has maintained a stable academic calendar and conducive learning environment through strict adherence to regulatory standards and internal quality assurance measures.

He also highlighted recent improvements in student welfare, including interventions that boosted water supply on campus through government and donor support, as well as internally funded projects.

The vice-chancellor added that the institution has adopted electronic voting for student union elections to promote transparency and accountability.

He said 2,682 students graduated across various faculties and departments, including 31 first-class graduates and urged the graduands to uphold strong values and contribute meaningfully to society.

According to him, “Society will judge you not only by the class of degree you obtained but by your values, character and the impact you make.”

He, however, commended the Katsina State Government for its continued support to the university in funding, infrastructure and personnel matters, but stressed that more targeted intervention is needed to close the manpower gap.