Tanko Ishaya, the vice-chancellor of the University of Jos, has commended President Bola Tinubu for reversing the policy mandating tertiary institutions to remit 40 per cent of their internally generated revenue (IGR) to the federal government.

Mr Ishaya commended the president in a press conference on Thursday in Jos, marking his two years in office as vice-chancellor.

Mr Tinubu announced the reversal of the policy at the 75th Founder’s Day ceremony of the University of Ibadan (UI). The president described the policy as ”ill-timed.”

Stakeholders had expressed concerns about the policy’s negative impact, insisting it was introduced amid a crumbling economy and poor funding of the nation’s tertiary institutions.

Mr Ishaya, who said the reversal of the policy was timely, maintained that it would enable tertiary institutions to have funds to cater for their immediate needs.

”It is a known fact that public tertiary institutions in Nigeria are grossly underfunded; asking these institutions to remit 40 per cent of their IGR to government coffers will amount to serious stagnation. But we are elated by the recent decision of the president reversing the policy.

“So, I want to commend our president for cancelling this policy because it will give room for development in our tertiary institutions,” said Mr Ishaya.

The vice-chancellor, however, advised the federal government to grant full autonomy to public universities, insisting that the autonomy of universities is not just about finances but their general administration.

“The autonomy of universities is not just about finances, but majorly about governance of the universities; autonomy is opposed to centralisation of the control of universities,” noted the Unijos VC. “It confers on each university the right to select or admit its own students, decide what to teach and determine areas of research. So, we call on the federal government to grant universities autonomy to enable them to function optimally.”

The vice-chancellor, who reeled out some of the modest achievements in the university under his stewardship, maintained that his administration had completed over 30 inherited projects in the institutions.

Mr Ishaya, who thanked staff and students of the institution for the support so far, promised to initiate and complete new projects and attract more research grants to the university before the expiration of his tenure.

(NAN)