NTI gets approval to award degree, says outgoing D-G

The National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) has been given permission to award a degree of education in distance learning, according to its outgoing Director-General, Prof. Musa Garba-Maitafsir.

Supreme News reports that he spoke on Monday in Kaduna when he handed over to his successor, Prof. Sa'adiyya Sani-Daura.

Garba-Maitafsir said she was coming at a time when the environment was fertile and recalled the beginning of his administration.

He said that he met the Institute as ‘an administrative outlet,’ but had transformed it into an academic outfit, with the Institute staff involved in the marking of scripts and other academic activities.

Speaking further on his stewardship, the outgoing NTI boss said when he came he inherited a huge debt of about N1.2 billion and his administration had paid 95 per cent of the debts.

Garba-Maitafsir said, ”My administration cut the unnecessary spending, renovated chalets at the NTI Conference Centre, as well as refurbished the Institute’s Printing Press, where printing items of the Institute were now printed there.

The outgoing director-general said that in the last ministerial briefing, NTI emerged the best performing agency in the Federal Ministry of Education.

He, therefore, advised Sani-Daura to maintain the standard, vowing to avail her of his wise counsel and advice for her to succeed.

Responding, the new NTI boss, the pioneer woman to occupy the position, said her administration would champion the mandate and objectives of the Institute.

Sani- Daura also said her administration would consolidate on the feats of the previous administration of Garba- Maitafsir.

While tasking the staff of the institute to do their work diligently, she encouraged teamwork and sought the support and cooperation of staff in general.

On the challenges of the institute, Sani-Daura expressed commitment to study the situation and concluded that such challenges were surmountable.

Supreme News also reports that the outgoing director-general, in company with the Institute’s management staff, went to sites of specific projects at the Institute and handed them over to Sani-Daura.

"From the foundation laid, NTI will answer its name as an academic institution. I came peacefully and left happily,” he concluded.