The newly appointed Vice Chancellor of the Tamale Technical University [TaTu], Prof. Bashiru Imoro Saeed, has officially assumed office after his appointment by the University Council on Wednesday, June 21, 2024.

Prior to his appointment, Prof. Bashiru served as a Pro-Vice Chancellor of the school from August 2020 to June 2024.

He succeeded Prof. Abass Braimah as the second VC of the school and will serve a four-year term.

Disclosing this in an interview, the Director for Pubic Relations at TaTu, Mr. Osman Mubarak said the new VC over the past years has demonstrated nothing but hard work, dedication, and leadership skills, adding that he was not surprised when the governing council approved his appointment.

“He is a problem solver and action-driven individual who has helped the university introduce close to 20 master’s programmes and some other degree programmes,” he said.

Vision of the new VC
Mr. Mubarak outlined a number of new developmental projects the VC is bringing on board, with one of the first things he would be introducing being a set of new programmes to add to the existing ones.

"We are working tirelessly to add new programmes that are market and entrepreneurial-driven, so that students can start up their own business after school when they are not yet employed by the government and other private entities."

According to him, there is also a plan to roll out new programmes that will span from certificate to degree, masters and then PhD levels.

“We want to change the phase of the school by making it beautiful and more attractive, so that it can compete with other universities in the country,” Mr. Mubarak added.

He said one of the challenges he might face in the early days of office is gaining the entire university community's understanding of the new VC's goals and aspirations.

However, he expressed confidence that over time, people would recognise the positive intentions the VC has for the school.

Addressing recent allegations that the school has no academic gowns and has been borrowing from the University for Development Studies (UDS), Mr. Mubarak confirmed the allegation as true, but stated however that the school actually has its own gowns but that they are not enough for the whole student body.

“TaTu has commenced the production of more academic gowns, and very soon we will be using our own gowns for our graduation and matriculation ceremonies and will not have to borrow from UDS again,” he added.

He appealed to both formal and informal staff of the university to support Prof. Bashiru so that he would he able to achieve the necessary goals and aspirations for TaTu’s development.

Profile of Prof. Bashiru
Professor Bashiru holds a PhD in Management Science and Engineering from Jiangsu University, P.R. China. He also holds an Msc and Bsc in Mathematics from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi.

He also holds a PhD in Statistics from the then Kumasi Polytechnic, now Kumasi Technical University as well as some other certificates he obtained from short courses.

Prof. Bashiru is an old student of the Ghana Senior High School Tamale.

In 2021, he was appointed the Honorary Chair of the First Council of Jiangsu University Overseas Students Alumni Association of Ghana.

He joined TaTu as an Associate Professor in the Mathematics and Statistics Department from the Kumasi Technical University. Prior to his appointment at TaTu, he served as the Head of Mathematics and Statistics Department at the Kumasi Technical University.

Prof. Bashiru also served as the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the Kumasi Technical University, Dean of the School of Graduate Studies from 2019 to 2020, and has also served as an External Examiner of Thesis/Dissertation at the UDS and University of Ghana.

He has also served as Director of TaTu Data Science Laboratory (TaTu-LISA) and as a Country Coordinator at the International Literacy Project 9ISLP), a member of International Statistical Institute (ISI) and has also reviewed a number of journals.