By Abujah Racheal
Abuja – The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on Friday restated its resolve to support the development of infrastructure in universities and polytechnics across the Niger Delta region.
The Chairman of the NDDC Governing Board, Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba stated this during a courtesy visit by the Vice-Chancellor of Cross River State University (UNICAL), Prof. Zana Akpagu, at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.
Ndoma-Egba said that the main resource of any society could be found in its youths and not the natural resources or minerals. For this reason, he said, the youths must be skilled, motivated, educated and empowered.
“If the youths are not properly educated, skilled or motivated, rather than be a blessing to the society, they become a curse.
“We are concerned that our youths must remain a resource and not a curse to our region. That is why we are partnering with universities and higher institutions in the Niger Delta region to educate and produce some of the best minds the country will have to offer,” he said.
Ndom-Egba said that the NDDC was making efforts to ensure that all ongoing projects in the universities in the nine oil producing Niger states were completed, especially in the University of Calabar being one of the oldest universities in the South-South.
The NDDC Chairman assured the VC that the Faculty of Law building which was ongoing, would not only be completed, but would also be furnished, and would stand out to be one of the best Faculties in the country.
Earlier in his remarks, the VC of UNICAL, Akpagu, thanked the Commission for all its interventions in the University and all other universities in the Niger Delta.
He appealed to the Commission to intervene in its building of an Ultra Modem Medical Centre.
Akpagu noted that since the inception of the university in 1975, the Centre had operated from a 4-room apartment, but with the current population of 46,000 students, the facility had become grossly inadequate.
He also pleaded with the Commission for a massive expansion, stating that UNICAL was the only Second Generation University without an Engineering Faculty.
He further pleaded for a provision of a Proper Senate building, stressing that the current Senate building was built to accommodate 5 Senate members, but the School had grown and currently had 450 Senate members.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) recalls that the commission had also restated its resolve to assist the Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro, with the provision of basic infrastructure, such as roads and hostel accommodation.(NAN)
