Umaru Pate

Umaru Pate (born 1964) is a Nigerian professor of media history and an academic. He is the Vice Chancellor of Federal University Kashere, Gombe State and the former Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies, Bayero University Kano, the president of Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN), a member of UNESCO Network of Communication Professors. Quotes Alhamdullilah, we have been able to improve on what we have found on the ground as well as try to consolidate on the record we have made in the university. When I came in, I promised to build on what I have found and will focus on six major areas. Firstly, academic and physical development, secondly, improving and sustaining standard and quality in the system, third, to strengthen our relationship with the host community that is the town and gown, four, focusing on staff and student welfare, five, improving on our Information and Communication Technology (ICT) visibility and the sixth about resource mobilisation. We have been able to do some things under all these areas. And so far, we have reason to be grateful and to Allah and also thank the owners of the university, that is the federal government for all the support. Umaru interview response to the question 'It has been a year since you assumed the office of vice chancellor, how has the journey been?' Yes, both at the undergraduate and the post-graduate level. At the undergraduate level, we have been able to obtain the approval of the NUC to commence seven new programmes. We have courses like Mass Communication, Procurement Sciences, Entrepreneurial Sciences, International Relations and a few others. So, we are comfortable with that. Secondly, we have been able to split some of our programmes, we have additional faculties. For example, faculty of humanity and social science are now two faculties. So, in that aspect there is progress. Umaru interview response to the question 'Did you introduced new courses and programmes that would help the students competitiveness in contemporary Nigeria?' We have gone very far in that respect. TETFund is supporting us to establish a Radio Station as well as a TV studio to support our training in mass communication. And already we have gone very far and as I am talking to you the mast of the radio station has been erected and we are expecting the studio equipment to arrive from the manufacturer through the contractor within the first quarter of the year. And once the equipment are in and we are also able to get our license from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), our radio station will hit the airwaves. We are optimistic that before the first half of the year, our radio station will be in air. Umaru interview response to the question 'What is the level of preparation for the take-off of the Campus Radio Station?' Well, we thank God that despite all the difficulties and the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government through the TETFund has sustained its effort and remains committed in funding the institutions, especially for our capital projects. And some of the projects I have talked about are coming from the TETfund as well as some of our stakeholders that are gracious enough to assist us like the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the North East Development Commission (NEDC), they have been helping us with interventions and also through the offices of people like Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje, the Gombe state government, who are also helping us in their own way in the development of the university and we remain grateful for all of that. Umaru interview response to the question 'How were you able to get funds for all these projects and programmes, despite the economic challenges in the country posed by the COVID-19 pandemic?' This has been part of my engagement while I was at the Bayero University, Kano (BUK), and I am still associated with it through the MacArthur Foundation. We have been focusing on the issues of indigenous language broadcasting, to see how we can improve on what exists and how we can use our indigenous languages particularly in broadcasting, to promote things like investigative journalism, advocacy and issues of corruption and all of that. It may interest you to know that despite our claim to be indigenously conscious the amount of time we devoted to indigenous languages in our broadcasting stations is relatively low and we need to do more. And there are a number of reasons why you see that sometimes our broadcast media organisations have been reluctant to allocate a lot of air time to local languages. Umaru interview response to the question 'You are leading a move through the MacArthur Foundation to revive translation of local languages in broadcast stations. What is the motivation behind this?' You know that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is a major stakeholder for maternal and child health in this country and particularly in our region. They have been playing a very big role particularly in child health and institutions like our own can be a very good partner for them. We have the resources in terms of personnel, we can help them in promoting some of the things they do and equally we can mainstream some of the great ideas that they have and some of the resources available into our courses to promote child health and protection of children right and all that. So, UNICEF is right to seek our partnership. We are also right because we need each other, we can have an efficient relationship that we can promote what they are doing and also enhance the content of our curriculum. Umaru interview response to the question 'Can you shed more light on the partnership between the FUK and the UNICEF?' External links Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:Pan-Africanists Category:Academics from Nigeria Category:Journalists from Nigeria Category:Educators from Nigeria