Kelvin Ohoror, Warri
Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, on Tuesday said major facilities needed for full take-off of the three newly-established universities in the state would be provided within the limit of available resources.
Okowa disclosed this while inspecting ongoing projects at the new Dennis Osadebe University, Asaba.
He said that he would do everything humanly possible in the remaining two years of his administration for the universities to operate all approved courses by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
The governor, who was in company with the Vice-Chancellor of Delta State University, Abraka, Prof. Andy Egwunyenga and Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof. Patrick Muoboghare, said things were working out as planned for the school to take off in September, 2021, and solicited support of all stakeholders.
He charged contractors handling the projects to redouble efforts as his administration was in a hurry to leave lasting legacies in the state, especially in the education sector.
“I believe that we are on course because we don’t need to have all the facilities fully, but at least when they come in, they need to see a progress and then they will come back to site to see what we are doing.
“In the Faculty of Environmental Science, where we are now, with the main building, the classroom blocks and offices, with auditoriums on two sides and what we also saw in the Faculty of Agriculture, you can find that we are progressing.
“In the first year, we won’t be admitting into all the courses but some courses have been approved for admission and I believe that the two buildings in the Faculty of Environmental Science will definitely be completed by the end of September, 2021.
“That of Faculty of Agriculture will most likely be completed next year; so the good thing is that they have places to start from.
“There are other structures that are existing in the campus that we are going to put under construction to enable them complete before September ending,” he said.
Okowa assured that equal attention would be given to the three new universities to enable them compete favourably with other tertiary institutions in the country and beyond.
“Next year, I will have to apply a lot of funds to the three universities. I intend to visit the University of Science and Technology, Ozoro, and on Thursday, I will be at University of Delta, Agbor,” he said.
Earlier, the Project Consultant, Mr Kester Ifeadi, who conducted the governor and his team round various project sites at the institution, had said that the first phase of the faculty and administrative buildings would be done in line with contractual agreement.
He disclosed that the main faculty building would house 20 lecture rooms, double auditoriums of 250-sitting capacity each, laboratories, offices for the lecturers and other administrative staff, among other facilities.
On their parts, Commissioner for Higher Education, Muoboghare and his counterpart in Housing, Chief Festus Ochonogor, said that the school had structures that would be used for the take-off of academic work and lauded the governor for giving approval for the construction and total upgrade of facilities in the university.
The governor also inspected the Vice Chancellor’s lodge and ongoing building for the Department of Agriculture where he expressed dismay over some structural defects and directed the Housing Commissioner to ensure that the error was quickly corrected.
