The Federal University Dutsin-ma, Katsina State, has established its Directorate of Desertification Monitoring and Control as part of its efforts to guard against desert encroachment in the country.
Prof. Armaya’u Bichi, the Vice-Chancellor (V-C) of the university, disclosed this on Friday, January 26, 2018 in Dutsin-ma during a pre-convocation media briefing.
He said, “The directorate will train people on how to plant trees and tend them to maturity.
“It will also join hands with the relevant authorities to enlighten people on the dangers associated with indiscriminate felling of trees in the environment.
“Experts will be trained because they are relevant stakeholders on the matter.’’
According to Bichi, the university is set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Katsina State Government on how to properly utilise the Katsina-Songhai Agricultural project.
“The university has approached the Katsina State Government for collaboration on how to revive the abandoned N3 billion agricultural project and it has accepted to partner the university on the matter.
“The university will use the Songhai project to train its students as well as generate revenue for the university.
“The centre will also serve as an avenue to create jobs for unemployed youths because we will be training them on skills’ acquisitions and entrepreneurship.
“The university will also use the centre to train local farmers on new farming techniques; this will greatly boost food production in line with the Federal Government’s agricultural policy,’’ the V-C said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 500 students are expected to be awarded degrees during the convocation which comes up on Saturday.
By Shehu Danjuma
