Umaru Pate is a professor of media history and one-time head of the media studies department at the University of Maiduguri.
An eminent media scholar and current Dean at the faculty of communications, Bayero University, Kano, Umaru Pate, has been elected Vice Chancellor of the Federal University in Kashere, Gombe State.
Mr Pate, a professor of media history and one-time head of the media studies department at his alma mata, University of Maiduguri, was also educated at the well-regarded School of Communications of the University of Ghana at Legon where he earned a master’s in philosophy degree in communications studies.
Born on January 4, 1964 in Song, Adamawa State, he had his early secondary school education at Government College Maiduguri and advanced level studies at the College of Preliminary Studies in Yola.
After a stint at the University of Maiduguri, as head of department, he moved to Bayero University, Kano, where he first assumed role as dean of the communication school, transforming the programme exponentially and placing it at the peak of national recognition. He was later made the pioneer Dean of the post-graduate school, Bayero, from where he will now be moving to his new position as Vice Chancellor at Kashere.
Mr Pate holds the position as President at the of the Association of Communication Scholars and Practitioners of Nigeria (ACSPN) and is also a title holder as Kaigama of Adamawa, a traditional role as Chief of Defence Staff of the Adamawa emirate. He has been life-time judge of the Wole Soyinka Investigative Journalism Prize and is on the advisory board of the Premium Times Centre of Investigative Journalism [PTCIJ].
In response to Mr Pate’s appointment, the Executive Director of the PTCIJ, Dapo Olorunyomi said “this is one unique case of a round peg in a round hole that means so well for Nigerian journalism education and practice.”
“We are exceedingly proud of this election and believe it will represent a fundamental shift in Nigerian university administration knowing Professor Pate’s abiding concerns for academic excellence, his true belief in the ethics of inclusion, justice and the value of decency,” Mr Olorunyomi added.
