By Steve Oko

The Sole Administrator, Abia State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, ASOPADEC, Hon. Emeka Stanley has knocked the critics of Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, describing them as myopic.

Hon. Stanley, a former Deputy Speaker, Abia House of Assembly, who spoke when he received in audience, the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike MOUAU, chapter who visited the Commission on courtesy, said Ikpeazu had performed creditably and deserved commendation and not condemnation.

He argued that Abia had witnessed a lot of infrastructural transformation under the watch of Ikpeazu, wondering why some people are still criticising him.

The former Deputy Speaker, Abia House of Assembly, urged the federal government to quickly resolve their differences and end the ongoing strike declared by the union to save Nigeria’s university education from total collapse.

He lamented the devastating effects of incessant strikes by various labour unions in the university which he said had almost stifled the system.

The ASOPADEC boss who disclosed that the Commission currently has over 200 undergraduates on scholarship in various universities, said strike actions unnecessarily prolong their stay in school thus increasing the financial burden on the Commission.

Hon. Stanley further regretted that many graduates being churned out by various universities are half-baked as a result of elongated strikes which lead to universities resorting to crash programmes.

” I don’t know how we can effectively educate our young ones with the incessant strikes bedevilling our university system”, he lamented.

The ASOPADEC boss also appealed to the management of academic institutions in the country to give serious attention to the education of students on moral values to curb the menacing effects of such vices as ritual killings, internet fraud (Yahoo Yahoo), and drug abuse among youths.

He enumerated various interventions of the Commission to improve the standard of living in oil-producing communities in the state, assuring that more communities will benefit from the interventions.

He promised that ASOPADEC would not hesitate to extend its gestures to MOUAU to complement the developmental efforts of the institution.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman of NAAT, Comrade Kenneth Nwaji, commenced the ASOPADEC boss for the numerous achievements of the Commission under his watch.

He solicited the support of the Commission to the union’s quest for local-based technology.
Vanguard News Nigeria