The management of Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi (FUAM) in Benue State on Wednesday formally acknowledges the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari decision to change the name of the institution. Vice Chancellor, Prof. Anande Richard Kimbir, made the disclosure in his speech during the matriculation of new students of the institution for the 2018/2019 academic session.

Kimbir informed the gathering at the occasion that the federal government has changed the name of the institution from Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi (FUAM) to Joseph Tarka University (JTU), noting however that an official communication was still being awaited to specify the mandate, vision and mission of the university’s new status.

He therefore charged the new students to define their priorities and settle down quickly to face the challenges ahead, stressing that their study requires commitment, determination and strict discipline. He also disclosed that within his two years of manning he affairs of the university, the first ever Open Education Resources (OER) platform launched at the institution had been rated one of the best and mostly used OER in Nigeria with more than 381 profiles of researchers and staff, thereby, enriching the university website with intellectual collections.

The vice chancellor added that the feat had tremendously improved the ranking of the institution from 47th to the 33rd position in the ranking of universities in Nigeria and that the trend would continue as the school strive to attain its desired height in the future.