Niger State Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu has said that for the development of Nigerian universities, professors should be able to organise programmes that would generate fund to ensure the payment of their salaries and at least five other workers in their departments.

The governor, who made this comment yesterday at the inauguration of the board of trustees of Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, endowment fund, said that by such development the universities would be able to reduce their recurrent expenditure.

He said it was a global practice that professors engage in consultancy services and other programmes that could generate money for their institutions and ensure the payment of their salaries.

According to him, "We must make it a rule that anyone that has reached the level of a professor must pay himself and those of five other staff members in their departments."

He reiterated that universities should be able to harness the collective and individual goodwill of the people for the overall development of their institutions to complement government efforts.

Governor Aliyu announced that the more than 20 courses being offered at the IBB University, Lapai, had been given full accreditation by the National Universities Commission (NUC) before asking the management of the institution to build on the enviable records already attained.

He therefore urged the university's management "to continue to deploy innovative strategies to focus the university towards the attainment of its vision, one of which is to proactively reach out to extra -governmental funding sources to attract capital project, world class research facilities acquisition through partnership with local and international development partners."

Aliyu therefore announced a donation of N100million and N50million to the endowment fund of the university by the state government and the 25 local government areas respectively.

He challenged the committee headed by former head of state, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, to use their national and international outreach to attract assistance to the university.