Gov. Mohammed Umaru-Bago of Niger has donated N100 million to the Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna to facilitate the construction of hostels for students.

Mr Umaru-Bago made the announcement when he received the Governing Council of the University on a courtesy visit at the Government House, Minna, on Wednesday.

The governor observed the lack of inter-institutional collaboration among all the tertiary institutions in the state and called for synergy among the institutions in terms of research and programme exchanges.

He said doing so would bring accelerated development to the education sector, especially as the government desires to make the state the hub of education.

Mr Umaru-Bago also expressed readiness to partner with the FUT Minna in the Green Initiative of the state government, where the vast land of the institution would be utilised to generate power for the university and its environs rather than relying on the national grid.

The governor applauded the Governing Council of FUT Minna for conceiving the idea of introducing medicine-related courses in the institution.

He said the government would provide support to make it a reality for the overall benefit of the citizens of the state.

Speaking earlier, the pro-chancellor and chairman of the council of the institution, Muhammad Kudu-Santuraki, disclosed that the university had become an incredible institution.

He explained that it was doing remarkably well in the international rating where it had consistently ranked among the top ten for the past three years among over 290 universities in Nigeria.

The pro-chancellor disclosed that the university had 59 undergraduate academic programmes, 24 postgraduate programmes, seven newly approved courses, and an additional six courses in the pipeline.

He also disclosed that the university was working on establishing a medical school using the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Bida as its teaching hospital.

Mr Kudu-Santuraki, however, commended the governor for his commitment to the development of the education sector and highlighted some challenges faced by the institution.

(NAN)