The immediate past Vice-Chancellor of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi State, Prof. Muhammad AbdulAziz, has urged lecturers to be willing to submit themselves for a voluntary drug test if it becomes imperative, News About Nigeria reports.
He gave this call while speaking to the Senate of the University at a handing-over ceremony to his successor, Prof. Sani Kunya, the new acting Vice-Chancellor of the institution.
AbdulAziz commended the decision of the Federal Ministry of Education to introduce drug tests for students seeking admission to all universities but advocated that such tests be extended to lecturers.
According to him, this will ensure that the universities are sanitised and also determine the mental status of both students and lecturers.
“We have discussed with the Federal Ministry of Education and they want to introduce to all universities that before any student would be registered in the universities, he or she must undergo drug tests.
“If students should undergo drug tests, I believe that even some of us, the lecturers, need to undergo the same test so that we know our status. We also have to volunteer ourselves to have this test done on us because we have to sanitise the university.
“If the students are to be subjected to drug tests to determine their mental health status, nothing is wrong if the lecturers too are subjected to the same test,” he said.
He maintained that this is the only way that excesses in the university system can be checked, and academic excellence promoted.
