by Muhammad Sabiu
The Governing Council of the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has approved the appointment of Prof. Auwal Kasim of the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, as the new provost of the Institute.
A statement by the Directorate of Public Affairs of the university made available to newsmen in Kaduna on Friday said the appointment of the new provost was contained in a letter dated December 28, 2023, and signed by the Registrar of the Institute, Air Commodore Mohammed Sheriff Lawal.
The statement also noted that Prof. Kasim’s appointment followed his success at the interview for the top job.
“The appointment, which is for a single non-renewable tenure of five years, is in line with the Institute’s laws and regulations governing the conditions of service for academic staff.
Prof. Kasim’s appointment is effective January 8, 2024. He is taking over from Prof. Muhammad Dauda, also a staff member of Ahmadu Bello University from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who had just finished serving his tenure as Provost of the Institute for five years.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kabiru Bala, congratulated Prof. Kasim on his emergence as the Institute’s Provost and wished him God’s guidance in the discharge of the national assignment.
The Air Force Institute of Technology is a tertiary institution with a blend of military and civilian staff and students accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC), the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
The Institute is also a Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA)-approved training organisation for the conduct of the Initial Aircraft Licence Preparatory Course (ILPC).
Until the new appointment, Prof. Kasim was the Director of Engineering Services at Ahmadu Bello University Consultancy Services (ABUCONS) Nigeria Limited.
Kasim, who has over two decades of academic experience at Ahmadu Bello University, also served as the Head of the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, during which he initiated and supervised the establishment of mining engineering.
Prof. Kasim, whose research interest is on corrosion and degradation of materials, material development, and characterization, taught and supervised many students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Kasim is a Fellow of the Nigeria Corrosion Association (NiCA) and the Nigerian Metallurgical Society (NMS), as well as a Member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), and the Nigerian Society of Mining Engineers (NSME).