Bomba Dauda
Having listened to a recent interview granted by Mike Auta on TikTok, where he spoke about the emergence of the Nigerian University of Applied Sciences, Kachia (FUASK).
It brought to the fore the difference between “brought” and “built.”
The issue that requires clarification from Mike Auta’s interview is the claim concerning who “brought” the university.
During the interview, Mike said: “I hear people say Sunday Marshall Katung brought a university.”
The problem here is the application of the word “brought.” There is a fundamental difference between saying Senator Sunday Marshall Katung brought the university through legislation and saying Tony Hassan built the university with his resources.
The two statements are not necessarily contradictory because they refer to different contributions. One concerns the legislative establishment of the institution, while the other concerns the physical infrastructure and resources used to develop it.
With due respect to Tony Hassan, the property in question had been subject to a court-ordered forfeiture. According to the relevant court proceedings, it was forfeited to the Federal Government as proceeds of crime. Therefore, by the time the property was ceded for use by the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, it was no longer Tony Hassan’s private property but had become public property. The baseline is, Senator Sunday Marshall Katung brought the University through the bill he sponsored while Tony Hassan built the University.
More importantly, Mike Auta was quoted as saying: “Marshall just moved a motion, which was granted.”
That statement is factually inaccurate. Senator Sunday Marshall Katung did not move a motion to establish the university; he sponsored a bill.
There is a clear distinction between the two. A motion is a formal proposal seeking an action, decision, recommendation or resolution from a legislative chamber. A bill, on the other hand, is a proposed law intended to establish, amend or repeal a legal provision.
FUASK came into existence through the legislative process initiated by Senator Sunday Marshall Katung’s sponsorship of the bill establishing the university. The bill subsequently received presidential assent from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and became law.
