The Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, ATBU, has graduated 1,500 students from its World Bank Project focused on Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Professor Ibrahim Hassan Garba, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Coordinator of the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Center of Excellence (SPESSCE) at ATBU, explained that the programmes were introduced to combat corruption in procurement, as well as to train environmental and social standards experts.
According to him, the training is for a capacity building programme to address the skills gap in procurement, environmental and social standards.
He said ” The training spans through tracks –track A is run for five days where participants get their certificates, track B is where participants learn within 80 hours or three to four weeks while we have track D post-graduate diploma, track E is professional and academic masters.
“This initiative aims to enhance the skills and legal knowledge of individuals involved in procurement processes and even offers master classes for chief executives. Notably, students can attend classes virtually and collect their certificates in person at the University Campus.”
He also explained that the programme is designed to help the personnel in the procurement process to be more conversant with the existing laws.
“The procurement law holds the chief executive officer accountable but he doesn’t know the law. Now with this programme, we train procurement officers while we also organise a master class for chief executives.”
