- Omo-Agege promises availability of infrastructure before Sept. 2022 commencement
The Minister of Education, Mr. Adamu Adamu, has expressed satisfaction with the ongoing preparation for the take-off of Federal Polytechnic, Orogun, Delta State, with a view to commencing academic activities in September, 2022.
Adamu who stated this after a physical inspection of the Polytechnic site in Orogun, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, noted that the ministry was satisfied with its standard requirement needed for the institution to come on stream in 2022.
The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Arc. Sonny Echono, explained that the purpose of the visit was to physically inspect the site following the instruction given to the team to coordinate and facilitate all arrangements for a successful take-off of academic activities September, next year.
“We have come to physically inspect the proposed site and to identify major features and issues around the requirements for the commencement of that institution.
“Our instruction on this occasion is to coordinate as well as facilitate all arrangements towards the commencement of academic activities in that institution by September, next year”, he said.
The minister expressed satisfaction with what he saw on ground especially in the areas of land acquisition, centrality of the location, proximity to public power supply and water supply, just as he thanked the communities for donating land for the siting of the Polytechnic.
He said: “And we are indeed very pleased with the briefing we received and the physical inspection that we carried out that the community has been most supportive in contributing land for the Polytechnic.
“We are also pleased to note that the key issues we always look out for is whether the land is accessible, whether there is the possibility or proximity to power supply, whether it is possible to access water for the development and all the employees and the students, and whether there are potentials for the development of the communities, as well as supporting communities that will constitute the larger catchment of the institution.
“So, we are very pleased to note that the institution is so central, very close to Abraka and other major areas in the state. So, all is working together, particularly the assurances and support being given by the DSP to mobilize additional resources for the project. And we want to say that we are very satisfied with all the basic issues we look out for during the physical inspection.”
Responding, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege who played host to the Inspection team from the Ministry, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the approval he granted for the setting up of the Polytechnic.
Omo-Agege also thanked the Minister of Education, Mr. Adamu Adamu and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, adding that without them, the Polytechnic would not have become a reality.
He disclosed that the vision of the Polytechnic is premised on the fact that it will be the “global institution in innovation and excellence”, adding that “the mission will be to employ human and materials resources for globalized innovation in teaching, learning, research, community engagement and partnershipsd to attain national development.”
Expressing his determination to ensure that the institution maintains a high academic standard, Omo-Agege said that “we have some universities and polytechnics which are glorified secondary schools, but we are determined to ensure that that will not be the case with this Polytechnic.”
According to him, it is to ensure that high academic standard is maintained, hence he has assured that, outside the allocation from the ministry, he will use his good office to attract funding from other sources for the development of the institution.
Commenting on the prerequisite for the take off of academic activities, the Deputy President of the Senate, explained that although it is a practice that a new institution will start with just one college or faculty, he however pleaded with the ministry to allow it “start with six colleges, namely, College of Computer Science, College of Engineering, College of Architecture and Environmental Studies, College of Pure and Applied Sciences, College of Agriculture and Food Science and College of Management, Humanities and Arts.”
He also pleaded with the ministry to address the manpower requirement and infrastructure of the institution.
The Senator also informed the visiting team that the communities were magnanimous enough to release 100 hectares of land for the Polytechnic, adding that it was a collective effort of all the communities to ensure that the institution has sufficient land space to develop.
“The land was donated for the school by the entire community. The whole community decided to release it for the project. The legal document conveying it is ready including the survey plan”, he said.
He assured that there will be roads, water and other basic amenities before the take off, adding that efforts are on to ensure that power supply to the area is boosted by the construction of power step down by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Ltd.
