The Senate yesterday moved to give legal backing to the Nigerian Army Institute of Technology and Environmental Studies which was established about 30 years ago.
The bill is entitled “A Bill for an Act to Establish the Nigerian Army Institute of Technology and Environmental Studies to Provide for Non-military Career Training to Personnel of the Nigerian Army and for Other Matters Connected Therewith, 2015.”
The bill was subsequently referred to the Committee on Defence and Judiciary for further legislative action and is expected back in plenary in two weeks.
Sponsor of the bill, Senator Kabiru Marafa ( Zamfara Central ), in his lead debate, explained that the bill specifically seeks to provide an enabling law and a legal framework for the operation of the institute.
Marafa lamented that the school which was established almost at the same time with the Air Force Institute of Technology in Kaduna, has been suffering from poor students’ enrolment because of the absence of the required law.
According to him, the institute, when fully legalised as a corporate body, would have access to funds that could be utilised for the execution of capital projects and research work.
“The Tertiary Education Trust Fund and other intervention agencies have long withdrawn their financial intervention to the institute because of lack of an enabling Act.
“This bill greatly seeks to remove these impediments that have hindered the success of the institute in sourcing funds for its projects,” he said.
He added that the bill “seeks to raise the infrastructural, academic and administrative standards of the institute.”
Marafa said the bill will greatly improve the standing and capacity of the institute to deliver on its mandate both to the host community and to the nation in general.
Senate President David Mark, in his remarks, stated that the military remained a centre of excellence and development, adding that a legal framework for the operation of the school would go a long way to enhance its operations.
“We must begin to look at the military as a centre for research and excellence”, he stated.
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