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DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY YEAR OF ESTABLISHMENT AND LOCATION

The Department of Geography, Nasarawa State University was established in the 2002/2003 academic session, which is the second academic session of the establishment of the University. It was formerly situated within the Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences but has been moved to the Faculty of Social Sciences. The proximity of Nasarawa State University to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT, Abuja), the Nation's Capital, and the Jos Plateau places the Department of Geography in a strategic location given the varied geographic features that abound in the region. The Department of Geography is one of the leading and most promising Departments in Nasarawa State University, which itself is one of the most dynamic and progressive State Universities in Nigeria.

PHILOSOPHY AND OBJECTIVES

The philosophy of the programmes is to provide the students with theoretical and practical knowledge to understand the interrelationships between the physical and human realms of the environment. Thus students are trained to understand, exploit and manage their environment in a sustainable way.

The Objectives are to:

• Foster awareness and appreciation of the earth's physical and human environments and their interrelationships;


• Enable the students acquire basic knowledge of geographic concepts, theories, problems and methods so that they can apply such knowledge in solving human problems; and


• Enable the students acquire necessary skills which will enable them pursue careers in areas like cartography, remote sensing, geographic information system, surveying, environmental impact assessment, environmental resource management amongst others. Such skills will equip geography graduates to fit into many areas in both the public and private sectors of the economy.

PROGRAMMES AND COURSES

The Department offers the following programmes leading to the award of various degrees to successful candidates:

• A 4-year programme leading to the award of BSc. (Hons) Degree in Geography and B.Ed. Geography respectively for students in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Faculty of Education.


• An 18-month Postgraduate Diploma Programme leading to the award of PGD in Environmental Resource Management


• An 18-month Masters programme leading to the award of MSc. in Geography, with specialization in Climatology, Geomorphology, Environmental Resource Management, Population, Transportation and Settlement Geography)


• A 3-year doctoral degree programme leading to the award of PhD in Geography The courses taught cover a wide range of subfields in geography (Climatology, Geomorphology, Environmental Resource Management, Population, transportation, Settlement Geography, Biogeography, Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System. Field investigation, Entrepreneurial and Industrial Training form critical components of the curriculum (Details are in the Departmental Handbook)

ADMISSIONS

Admission into the various programmes are subject to meeting the minimum requirements and benchmark set up by the University Matriculation Examination Board, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Senate of Nasarawa State University.

FACILITIES

The Department has the following facilities to aid staff and students:

• A synoptic weather station


• A Remote Sensing and GIS laboratory


• Cartography Laboratory


• A Reference Library


• A Postgraduate Lecture Hall

STAFFING

The Department has diversified and well experienced academic in the geography programme at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Staff profile in the Department of Geography, Nasarawa State University as at 2012/2013 session

S/No. Names Rank/Position Area of Specialization

• Professor Haruna Kuje Ayuba (BSc. MSc. PhD) Professor and Head of Department Biogeography and Environmental Science


• Professor D. U Sangari (BSc. MSc. PhD) Professor Land Resources and Management


• Professor K. O. Iwugo (BSc. MSc. PhD) Professor Hydrology/Water Resources


• Professor O. Ekanade (BSc. MSc. PhD) Professor Biogeography


• Dr Nasiru M. Idris (BSc. MSc. PhD) Senior Lecturer Urban Planning and Environmental Resource Management


• Dr S S Karshi (BSc. MSc. PhD) Senior Lecturer Urban and Regional Planning


• Dr Hassan Sani (BSc. MSc. PhD) Senior Lecturer Urban Planning and Environmental Science


• Dr M M Alhassan (BSc. MSc. PhD) Senior Lecturer Environmental Resource Management


• Dr Dickson Okolo (BSc. MSc. PhD) Senior Lecturer Climatology


• Mr Labaris Akwa (BSc. MSc.) Senior Lecturer Environmental Resource and Planning


• Mr Ishaya Ismaila (BSc. MSc.) Senior Lecturer Environmental Resource and Planning


• Mr Marcus Danjuma (BSc. MSc.) Lecturer 1 Population and Medical Geography


• Dr Abiola Kassim (BSc. MSc. PhD) Lecturer II Geomorphology and Hydrology


• Dr Mahmud Abubakar (BSc. MSc. PhD) Lecturer II Land resources management


• Sani Yahaya (BSc. MSc.) Lecturer II GIS


• Joshua Magaji (BSc. MSc.) Lecturer II Climatology


• Tanko A. Ogah (BSc. MSc.) Lecturer II Urban Planning


• Sunday K Yusuf (BSc. MSc.) Assistant Lecturer Environmental Management


• Daniel Adamu (BSc.) Graduate Assistant Urban Management


• Usman Lay (BSc. MSc.) Graduate Assistant Remote Sensing and GIS

CONTACT

Professor Haruna K. Ayuba

Head of Department

Professor of Biogeography and Environmental Science

Department of Geography

Nasarawa State University Keffi, PMB 1022, Keffi

Nasarawa State, Nigeria

E-mail: hkayuba@yahoo.com

Phone: +234(0)8024523151; +234(0)8035593742



Via: Nasarawa State University, Keffi