Buhari approves Federal Polytechnic for Deputy Senate President’s Town
The Federal Government, through the office of his Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR ,in a letter conveyed through the Federal Ministry of Education to the deputy Senate President, his Excellency Senator Ovie Omo-Agege has approved the establishment of the federal polytechnic Orogun, in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State.
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The letter dated February 23, 2021 with reference number DHE,/Poly/39/C.1/1/84 and signed by the permanent secretary, federal ministry of education,Arc,Sonny S.T. Echono on behalf of the Hon.minister of Education,Alhaji Adamu Adamu stated that the Polytechnic will commence operation in October 2022.
Furthermore, he noted that the Honourable Minister of Education has constituted an implementation committee to liase with Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and Delta State Government for detailed planning and execution of the approval. Thus a technical team from Federal Ministry of Education and National Board of Technical Education (NBTE) shall visit Delta state to identify and assess the site in Orogun Ughelli North LGA as well as facilitate necessary arrangements for commencement of academic activities.
In a statement signed by Prince Efe Duku Special Adviser to the Deputy President of the Senate on Legislative and Plenary Matters, he said the Federal Polytechnic Orogun is another clear evidence of President Buhari’s admirable statesmanship, patriotic attention to strategic human capital development and deep love for our people.
He also noted that Deputy Senate President is thankful to the Honourable Minister of Education, Alhaji Adamu Adamu, for his leadership and sense of integrity on this issue, like others.Duku equally thanked on behalf of his principal, the President of the Senate, His Excellency, Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, PhD, CON, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, His Excellency, The Rt. Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila as well as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, His Excellency, The Rt. Honourable Ahmed Idris Wase for their unflinching support for the Bill.
Duku disclosed that Senator Omo-Agege has always envisioned the possibility of public tertiary academic institutions with core ‘Silicon Valley’ character in Nigeria. Institutions known mainly for world-class research capabilities and first-class achievements in the sciences, especially computer science – computer graphics, network design, computer-assisted education, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics, big data, cyber security, bioinformatics, amongst others. and that this was the major motivation for his introduction of the Bill to establish the Federal Polytechnic Orogun in 2017 in the 8th Senate, but the political environment then did not allow the bill to progress. He re-introduced the Bill in 2019 in this 9th Senate, and it was passed by this National Assembly.