By Ibrahim Mukhtar
The Governing Council of Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, at its 25th meeting held from Monday, 21st to Thursday, 24th November, 2022, has approved the appointment of Prof. Muhammad Zaiyan Umar as the new Vice Chancellor of the University.
In a press statement sent by Alhaji Jamilu M. Magaji, the
Public Relations Officer,
Federal University Birnin Kebbi, he noted that the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Prof. Funmi Togonu-Bickersteth announced the development at a Press Briefing held on Thursday, November 24, 2022 at the Council Chamber, Senate Building, University Main Campus.
The statement received by The Daily Reality states that “the Pro-Chancellor who revealed that the appointment of the new Vice Chancellor was sequel to the advertisement in the Daily Trust and The Punch Newspapers of Saturday, 2nd July, 2022 and subsequent interview by the Governing Council, added that the tenure of the outgoing Vice Chancellor ends on December 3, 2022.
Until his appointment, the new Vice Chancellor was the immediate past Deputy Vice Chancellor, Sokoto State University.
Muhammad Zaiyan Umar, a Professor of Political Science at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), comes with over three (3) decades of professional and administrative experience. He started his professional career at the UDUS as a Graduate Assistant in 1989 and became a Professor in 2009.
The immediate past Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Sokoto State University, Sokoto, Prof. MZ Umar also served as the University’s Ag. Director, TETFund’s Research and Development Centre of Excellence. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Centre for Open and Distance Education (CODE) at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. Prof. Umar was, at various times, the Ag. Head of Department of Political Science, Deputy Dean and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, as well as the Dean of Postgraduate School at UDUS.
The new Vice Chancellor served as Resource Person to several organizations including the Institute of Security Studies, Abuja; National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru, Jos; The Electoral Institute of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the House Committee on Marine Transport, National Assembly, Abuja.
A Fulbright Fellow, Prof. Umar served at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA between 1988 and 1999. He served as an External Examiner and Assessor for promotion to Reader and Professor for various State and Federal Universities in Nigeria as well as the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), in Dakar Senegal. He is a member of the Fulbright Alumni Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) and Social Science Academy of Nigeria (SSAN).
Prof. Umar was born on June 12, 1963. He is married with children.”
