The Governing Council of Sule Lamido University Kafin Hausa (SLUK), has confirmed the appointment of Professor Nasir Faruk as the new Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academics (DVC) of the University during its 45th Regular meeting held on Thursday 24th August, 2025. The confirmation followed his earlier nomination by the University Senate at its 89th Regular Meeting held on Thursday 14th August, 2025 as the second tenure of current DVC Academics, Prof. Umar Ali ends on Monday 20th October 2025. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 5 of the Second Schedule of the University Law (2013), as amended, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Muhammad Ibrahim Yakasai, fcasson, mnae, recommended to the Senate for the appointment of a new DVC which resulted in the new development. The appointment is for a tenure of two (2) years, with effect from 21st October 2025.

A Professor of Telecommunications and Information Technology Professor Nasir Faruk was born on Wednesday 18th April, 1984 in Gujungu town, Taura Local Government Area of Jigawa State. He attended Gujungu Central Primary School, Government Secondary School Aujara, Science Secondary School Lautai, Gumel, College of Arts, Science, and Remedial Studies (CAS), Kano, and Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil where he obtained a First-Class B.Sc. in Physics in the year 2007. He earned an M.Sc. with Distinction in Mobile and High-Speed Telecommunication Networks from Oxford Brookes University, Oxford UK, 2010 under the sponsorships of Jigawa State Government scholarships, and later a Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Ilorin in 2015. He undertook postdoctoral research fellowship at Aalto University, Finland between 2015 and 2016 and also obtained a certificate in Project Management from the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business, USA.

Prior to his appointment at SLUK as a Professor, Nasir Faruk was an Associate Professor of Telecommunications at the University of Ilorin, where he began his academic career after completing his National Youth Service Corps in the between 2008 and 2009 in the Department of Physics of the University.

Prof. Faruk has distinguished himself as both a researcher and academic leader. Between 2011 and 2025, he successfully attracted and managed 46 competitive research grants from prestigious funding agencies and institutions worldwide. These include the African Telecommunication Union (ATU), Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), IEEE ComSoc and Humanitarian Technology Board (HTB), USA, TETFund (NRF and IBR grants), AFRINIC, Google, LARUS Foundation (Hong Kong) and several international governments and organizations. His expertise in grant acquisition has enabled him to train over 2,000 academics across Nigeria in proposal writing and research capacity building, facilitating workshops at various institutions. As a prolific scholar, Prof. Faruk has published over 180 scientific publications, among which more than half are indexed in WoS and Scopus databases, achieving an h-index of 30, i10-index of 75, and more than 3,600 citations (as of April 2025). He attended over 40 conferences across more than 20 countries, strengthening international collaboration in telecommunications and digital development. His research focuses on Wireless Communications, Terrestrial Radio Propagation and Health Informatics. He has served as an editor and reviewer for reputable journals and sits on technical program committees of numerous international conferences. In recognition of his contributions, he has received several awards, including the prestigious University of Ilorin Researcher of the Year 2018, the Jigawa State Governor’s award of Academic excellence, the IEEE Outstanding Leadership Award, and inclusion among the Top 100 Telecom and ICT Personalities in Nigeria by the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria. He was also listed among the top 2% of scientists worldwide by the AD Scientific Index. He presented the first SLUK Professorial Inaugural Lecture in May 2025 “entitled “Imagine the World without ICT”

Beyond academia, Prof. Faruk has held several administrative leadership roles including level coordinator, SIWES coordinator, undergraduate and postgraduate project coordinator, examination officer, Head of Department, Deputy Director, Acting Director, Director and Dean of Faculty, and has served on key national and international committees. His community service has been impactful, particularly in advancing ICT infrastructure, digital skills, rural telephony, and internet governance in underserved communities across Nigeria and Africa. He holds numerous professional memberships: Registered Engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Chartered and Information Technology expert by the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN), Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Administration of Nigeria, Senior Member of IEEE, and member of Nigeria Society of Engineers, Institute of Engineering & Technology (IET), Internet Society of Nigeria (ISOC NG), Society of Digital Information and Wireless Communications (SDIWC), International Association of Engineers (IAENG), Nigeria Institute of Physics (NIP), and the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS). He currently serves as Chair, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Communications Society (IEEE ComSoc), Nigeria, and Co-Chair, ISOC Nigeria’s Infrastructure, Access, and Connectivity Working Group.

Professor Nasir Faruk is married with children.

Congratulations to the newly appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics.