*Lauds Omo-Agege on commitment

By Festus Ahon

EFFURUN—Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund, has said that the bill to establish the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, FUPRE, Delta State would be passed by the Senate before June 15, 2016.

SENATE CHAMBER

The committee which visited the university to get firsthand knowledge of the institution, expressed dissatisfaction at the state of the institution that was established about nine years ago and commended the Senator representing Delta Central senatorial district, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege for pushing for the passage of the institution’s establishment bill.

Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Tijjani Kaura, who spoke on behalf of the Chairman, Senator Binta Garba, said Senator Omo-Agege had hinted on the need for the quick passage of the bill to give the Petroleum University a legal backing.

Kaura said that the Senate would ensure that the university gets adequate funding to enable it compete with other Petroleum Universities in the world, noting that there was no other better place to site the university than in Delta State.

In his brief remarks, Omo-Agege said his desire was to give the university a strong footing to achieve the purpose for which it was established.

Omo-Agege said he has been working round the clock to ensure that the bill establishing the university in Effurun was passed and assented to in order to give it a legal backing.

Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Akii Ibhadode, who took the committee on assessment tour, decried that the university which was established in 2007 with students population of 2,185, academic staff strength of 722 and non academic staff of 193, had been underfunded.

Explaining that the university was established to train quality manpower for the petroleum industry, he said if given the needed support in terms of funding, the institution would commence post graduate programme this year and do much better than it was doing now.