Bills To Establish 3 New Universities in Delta State Signed into Law

Delta Governor, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, on Thursday, February 25, 2021 signed three Bills for the establishment of new universities in the state.

Speaking at the ceremony at the Government House, Asaba, the governor commended the House of Assembly for the prompt passage of the bills.

The bills, which were presented to Okowa for assent by the Speaker of the Assembly, Chief Sheriff Oborevwori who was accompanied by his Deputy, Chief Christopher Ochor and other principal officers, were for the University of Delta, Agbor; Dennis Osadebay University, Anwai and the University of Science and Technology, Ozoro.

He recalled that the bills were sent to the House a few weeks ago and that in spite of prevailing challenges the lawmakers deliberated on the bills and organised a public hearing to have inputs of the general public on them.

He also thanked the Ministry of Higher Education for efforts in bringing the establishment of the universities to fruition.

The governor said, “I am glad that I have assented to the three bills today and I am thankful to the House for their usual cooperation.

“We looked at a wide range of issues during our Education Summit and it became obvious that we needed to take certain actions as they affected the education of our people.

“Our people are always in the quest for higher knowledge and every year, Deltans have one of the highest applications for university education across Nigerian universities.”

He said the various higher institutions in the state were established because of the people’s quest for knowledge, adding that the new universities would help to consolidate the educational system in the state and create more spaces for others to gain higher education.

Okowa explained that out of 25,000 Deltans that applied for university admission in 2020, over 20,000 qualified but only 4,000 were admitted.

“As our institutions are today they just require little more funding to be upgraded to universities.

“As the students of our technical education start to progress from the technical colleges to the polytechnics,  they also have a chance of going further to the University of Science and Technology.

“What we have done today is in the best interest of the state because it is a futuristic thing and people will come to appreciate it in the future. We believe that whatever actions we take, it is always in the best interest of the state,” he said.

Earlier, Oborevwori had said that the bills went through rigorous legislative processes to ensure that Deltans got the benefit of the enlarged and enhanced tertiary institutions in the state.

He said that the passage of the bills, especially for Dennis Osadebay University, would help to immortalize the late Premier of the defunct Midwest Region.

The speaker said that the House held a public hearing on the bills where the views of stakeholders were aggregated into the passage of the bills.

On his part, the State for Higher Education, Prof. Patrick Muoboghare while speaking at a Press Briefing, said the signing of the bills by Governor Okowa was a boost to the take-off of the institutions.

According to Muoboghare, with that, Delta State now has four universities, two colleges of education, two polytechnics and a school of marine technology.

He explained that the schools were meant to create space for Deltans to acquire tertiary education.

He disclosed that the funding of the schools was captured in the 2021 Budget of the state, adding that the schools had the capacity to take off as universities.