When I was campaigning during the 2002 elections in Mianwali I was appalled at the high level of unemployment amongst the youth. Hence I resolved to set up a technical college so that this youth could become employable. However two things made me change my mind and instead I decided to build a World class University. First was the most beautiful location of the site (donated free of cost by the villagers) which made me dream of a knowledge city like Oxford. Secondly when I was offered the Chancellorship of Bradford University I realized that I had access to an enormous academic technical back up to pursue this dream.I am under no illusion that it is a huge challenge to set up a centre of excellence in such remote though beautiful location.First will be the huge funds needed to make it a University of International standard.

I intend to particularly target Industrial houses within the country who understand that without trained human capital they can not compete internationally. Then I will be going on a fund raising trip to the U.S and Europe to invite overseas Pakistanis (our country’s greatest asset) to join hands with me.

The other challenge we will face will be attracting quality faculty to our University. We intend to overcome this by paying handsome salaries, setting up quality systems (like at SKMT) and above all, providing excellent accommodation and recreational facilities–indeed I want to see Namal lake develop into a holiday resort in the not too distant future.

Finally I want to see over half the students in the University coming from less privileged background through scholarships, who in our present elitist education system can not dream of having access to high quality education