The outgoing Vice-Chancellor of Bingham University, Karu, Nasarawa State, Prof. Barnabas Qurix, has advised university leaders to avoid focusing on themselves.

The Vice-Chancellor said this in an interview with journalists on Saturday in Karu.

Mr Qurix advised the leadership of tertiary institutions to remain focused on the task bestowed on them rather than their own gains.

He said one must have vision, focus and a clear understanding of what lies ahead of him.

“If you have nothing at stake except the vision and target you set for yourself, you will surely succeed and I think this is something to watch out for,” Mr Qurix said.

He said that God was behind the growth and successes that the university had achieved so far.

Mr Qurix said that with little resources in some cases, they were able to deliver so much.

He said that there was a need for teamwork in any area of one’s endeavours or leadership.

He said that non-interference from higher authorities was key to facilitating and completing given tasks and projects.

Mr Qurix said that he was able to do so much in a given time because there was not much interference.

He advised his successors to always build on the foundation they met and, at the same time, build on their own foundation.

According to him, he did not abandon the projects that were uncompleted when he assumed office; rather, he completed them before embarking on his own projects.

He urged the government and university authorities to invest in research to generate income.

“Having served for six years, I have been able to handle funding challenges. I was faced with a huge debt, but by God’s grace, it was cleared from N10 billion of the N13 billion I met.

“At some point, everybody was worried for us, but today, we have overcome it and even the infrastructure challenge has been substantially reduced,” he said.

He advised the incoming VC to be focused and see how best to source funds to continue with developmental projects in the institution.

(NAN)