Professor Adamu Ahmed is the 13th Vice-Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, which will mark its 64th anniversary in October. In this interview, he spoke about the university’s efforts to commercialise research, the Incubation Hub, admission and diversity, support from state governors and his advocacy for greater autonomy for first-generation universities.
Our visit to your office coincided with your return from China; what exactly took you there?
It was a very important trip and breakthrough in the university’s efforts to take research from the laboratory to the market. We opened discussions with Shenzhen Technology University and some pharmaceutical industries on validating and commercialising outstanding research from our medical sciences programmes, including drugs we have developed and vaccines we are working on.
We also discussed how Chinese industries can work with Ahmadu Bello University, in particular, Ama Medical Manufacturing, with which we signed an important memorandum of understanding (MoU) a few months ago.
You may recall that a few months ago, our students went to Shenzhen, China, where they won the grand prize in the innovation track. They developed a novel procedure for analysing urine and stool samples to test for malaria parasites. It was recognised internationally, and we felt we needed to take it further for validation and possible production.
Essentially, the trip was about creating the capacity within the Nigerian system to take our destiny in the medical field into our own hands.
I also found it interesting when you said ‘from lab to market.’ This is coming at a time when there are complaints that universities don’t even conduct researches and the few studies they conduct end up on shelves. It seems to be a different scenario here; is that correct?
Yes. And that is the transformation we are trying to drive. Universities are established not only to train manpower but also to create solutions for their countries. I think this is one area where Nigerian universities have not done very well. At the Ahmadu Bello University, we felt we had fulfilled part of the mandate the Premier wanted us to fulfill.
Sir Ahmadu Bello?
Yes. He wanted us to train the next generation of skilled manpower for the country. We have trained staff who now work in nearly every university, polytechnic and college of education in the North.
The other thing the founder of these institutions, Sir Ahmadu Bello wanted was for the ABU to create solutions for northern Nigeria and the country.
We will be 64 years old in the next one month, and part of what I wanted to achieve when I assumed office was to move from teaching and capacity building to product development.
We also heard that when you came on board about a year and a few months ago, you introduced what you call ‘A Lunch with the Vice-Chancellor.’ We know that in the past, some students would never meet their vice-chancellor one-on-one. What motivated you to introduce the initiative, and what is it about?
We are here first and foremost because of the students. If we continue to create a void between us and them, they grow up being afraid, not only of their teachers but also of the vice-chancellor. If the vice-chancellor comes down to their level, they gain the confidence to open up to their teachers and other members of staff.
I felt it was time to change that trajectory. Confidence is what they need when they come into the institution, so they can feel that they can make a difference. If you cannot only greet your vice-chancellor in the street but also sit and eat with him, it opens up a whole new world for you.
It gives us an opportunity to listen to them, hear their aspirations, understand their challenges and allow them to raise complaints about what is going on with their teachers. It is essentially a private social event.
Vice-chancellors are like governors; they go with large protocols and all that, which might scare the students. Do they really open up?
We restrict the number of officials present. The Director of Academic Planning and the Public Affairs officer may be there, but the interaction is essentially between the students and me. I encourage them to be confident and open up. That is the beauty of it.
The first time we held it last year, they opened up. A blind student was selected and he spoke about the challenges faced by students with disabilities, including the need to make the hostels, classrooms and library more accessible. It was very touching. Since last year, we have tried to make a difference, and that was part of the reason the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) gave us an award for being the most physically challenged-friendly university. We had one of the largest populations of physically challenged students among universities in the country.
The physically challenged students study Guidance and Counselling or what?
They study different courses. They are in Mass Communication, the arts, social sciences and other disciplines. One of them particularly wanted to read Law, so we went back and forth to see how we could make life more comfortable for him.
And the person got the admission?
Yes, he got admission.
A blind person to study Law?
Yes. It goes beyond education and a few other fields. We will continue to open up the space for them to feel that they belong. There is so much potential in these students that we sometimes undervalue. All they need is an enabling environment.
Another initiative we heard of is the concept of ‘Create Before You Graduate.’ What is it about?
Again, it is about encouraging students to engage the brains God has given them and use their talents to solve problems. We want to reduce the temptation to think that you are in the university simply to obtain a certificate which, in some cases, may not immediately translate into employment. We want students to come in with their talents and create something like a business, a company or a product so that when they graduate; they leave not only with a degree from Ahmadu Bello University, but also with a registered company. The idea is for them to become employers, not just employees.
Last week, we had an inaugural lecture and invited Jelani Aliyu (the globally acclaimed Nigerian automotive designer who served as Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council). He spoke to the students about how he started from Sokoto and went on to the world stage. His message was that nobody should tell them it is impossible to become the next great designer or entrepreneur. The sky is the limit.
You opened a hub for them to pitch ideas?
Exactly. The idea is to go to the portal, apply and upload your idea. We screen the ideas and invite the successful applicants to pitch. They then proceed through the different stages, including the semi-finals and finals.
Ultimately, we want them to pitch not only to people within the university but to investors. We want a situation where, someday, we can say, ‘Dangote, come and see the 50 best ideas we think you can invest in.’
The climax would be to invite venture capitalists so that these young people can pitch their ideas to them.
When students can develop ideas, go to Shenzhen and win international competitions, it tells you there are many more possibilities. We, therefore, felt we needed a hub within the university where we could conduct validation and product development. That was why we invited the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala during the convocation. She spoke about the opportunities and challenges in the new geopolitical order and encouraged the students to see opportunities in the challenges around them. After the convocation, we held the groundbreaking for the ABU Incubation Hub.
What do you incubate there – the research?
Yes, research. For example, the students who developed the diagnostic tool for malaria can undertake pilot product development there. A student developing an aid for blind people can also further validate the product at the hub. The governor of Delta State has also made a contribution, and Abia State is expected to do the same. Ultimately, we want to establish a well-developed hub. The bigger dream is to have an industrial park within the university.
It was said that in the past, there was a student from each local government in Nigeria at the ABU. But recently, universities have turned into provincial institutions where the vice-chancellor, registrar, lecturers, cleaners, students and almost everyone else belong to a particular community. Where is ABU in that regard?
It is a wonderful question. The founder of this institution, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, did not want a village university. He could have taken it to Sokoto or Rabah, but he chose Zaria. When the university started with 432 students, he ensured that opportunities were created for people from every part of the country. You will be surprised to hear that the South-South was part of ABU’s catchment area. We had students from everywhere. Last week, during the oath-taking ceremony for medical students, I invited the former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ango Abdullahi as one of the special guests. He made a statement that captured the essence of ABU. He said every local government in the country was represented in the ABU.
He went further to say that there is hardly any local government in Nigeria where you will not find somebody holding an ABU certificate. That is the beauty of ABU and why the university continues to be influential.
Last year, at the JAMB awards, we were recognised not only for having a large number of physically challenged students but also for being the most cosmopolitan university.
You still give admission to students and teaching jobs from everywhere?
We simply ensure that applicants meet the minimum requirements. Whether they are from the catchment area, admitted on merit or educationally disadvantaged, we ensure that opportunities are spread as widely as possible. We have seen the value of that diversity; and Nigeria should also see the value in what the Sardauna did and the legacy we continue to promote.
When I reflect on it, Donald Duke, the former governor of Cross River State, holds an ABU degree. Two governors from the South-East also hold ABU degrees. We have produced chief justices in many southern states, as well as directors of town planning and many other professionals. That is why when people who attended the ABU go back to their states and assume leadership positions, they often have a broader understanding of Nigeria because they lived with people from the North, Christians and Muslims. When they return home, they can speak from experience about the people they met here. That is the impact the university continues to make on the leadership and governance structure of the country.
At the beginning of the year, we had a public lecture and invited the Rt. Rev. Justin Welby, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, to speak about unity and collective responsibility. It came at a time when there were discussions in the United States about the nature of Nigeria’s security and religious challenges. We felt it was the university’s responsibility to remind the world that Nigeria’s challenges should not simply be reduced to religious or ethnic divisions. When he came, he spoke to the poor, Christians, Muslims, politicians and leaders. He spoke to everyone. He spent three days here instead of the one day originally planned, mingled with students and staff and moved around freely. Those are the kinds of services we believe this university can provide and continue to provide.
Universities are crying, but we saw new roads and lights here. A few months ago, the ABU was complaining about N4 billion in energy cost. We have seen electricity now. Where are you getting the money?
Again, it is about being innovative and reaching out to our alumni and other stakeholders. Here, I must express my deep and sincere appreciation to the governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani. It was simply a matter of visiting him and explaining that the founder of this university did not give it to Zaria alone; he gave it to Nigeria and the North. We were facing several challenges and needed his help. He stepped in and supported many of the projects you are seeing.
The ABU is now a different place. The Zamfara State governor already has contractors on the ground to renovate the university health centre. The Katsina State governor is helping us upgrade the chemistry laboratory associated with the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua and supporting other projects. We have also become more innovative with our energy use. We introduced what we call responsible energy use, and the students have keyed into it.
You have a solar farm?
What we have done is to invest in solar power for buildings, such as the Senate Building, as well as some faculties and departments, taking them off the grid.
We have also signed an MoU with the Rural Electrification Agency under the federal government for a 10-megawatt solar farm. Hopefully, when that is completed, we will be able to save N215 million every month and redirect the money to basic infrastructure, such as water and other services.
I may be saying something many other vice-chancellors don’t want to hear, but I think autonomy is the way forward.
You are advocating autonomy for the university?
I am advocating it.
Financial autonomy or the autonomy to recruit staff?
Broader autonomy.
You think you have the magic wand to fund yourself?
I think we do. Let the federal government challenge the first-generation universities to begin creating sustainable pathways for themselves. For now, the government can continue to provide salaries and support us through capital appropriations and overheads while allowing us to utilise our assets and take our research outputs to the market. We want 100 Dangotes out of this place.
And you will produce them in ABU?
We can produce them. If we have entrepreneurs who succeed from ideas developed here and they give back 20 or 30 per cent of what they earn, we can become co-investors with them in those ideas.
You can imagine the resources that could generate. Besides that, we have a huge number of alumni. We currently have about 500,000 alumni. Very soon, at 64 on October 4, we are going to launch a platform asking our alumni to contribute to the institution.
Imagine if every alumnus contributed just N1,000 a month. If we are encouraged and the pathway is created, autonomy can create tremendous opportunities.
The government, however, needs to be strategic and perhaps allow the older, first-generation universities to pioneer this model.
We are already paying the energy bill from our internal sources. Imagine if we have a solar farm that saves N250 million or N300 million every month and we are able to invest those resources in our microfinance bank, ABU Consultancy and NAPRI ventures.
The Sardauna wanted the NAPRI to feed the whole of West Africa with milk. We are not yet able to feed Zaria, but we want to feed not only Kaduna State but the whole of Nigeria.
Is that doable?
It is doable. In the next three months, you will see products coming out of the NAPRI. Our day-old chicks will come from the NAPRI, alongside new yoghurt products that will be introduced into the market and compete with existing products.