Kogi to establish university in Okunland

By Stephen Adeleye

The Kogi Government has approved the establishment of a university proposed to be located in Kogi Western Senatorial District of the state.

The state’s Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Wemi Jones, made the announcement at a news briefing on Wednesday in Lokoja.

According to him, the process would involve the inauguration of a 15-man implementation Committee, made up of professors from all over Kogi

Jones said that the committee would be given the responsibility of drafting the university law, academic brief and the master plan.

He added that they would also be saddled with the task of recommending a suitable location and whether the university would be a specialised or conventional.

He also emphasised the need to provide more educational facility for young university hopeful in the state.

‘’It is expected that the committee will give its report within the next one month from the inauguration so that we can move as fast as possible

”As it would be the government’s desire to see the university kick off before the end of this tenure,” he said.

He noted that during the last admission exercise at the Prince Abubakar Audu University (PAAU) there was a population explosion of prospective intakes as the school had over 25,000 admission seekers as against capacity intake of about 6,000.

Jones stressed that even indigenes of the state were possibly deprived of admission or their intended course of study.

He added that one of the primary reason for the establishment of Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTECH, Osara, was to mitigate the challenge of the state’s qualified students, not gaining admission to courses of their choices.

‘He said this was due to the fact that Kogi was regarded as a state that was educationally advantaged.

According to him, Kogi West is blessed with tones of academia and highly known for education, hence putting a university in Kogi West, particularly Okun land was so apt.

The Commissioner asserted that funding has been and would always be a challenge but the government decided to take the bull by the horn and make such audacious move.

Jones assured that the 15-man committee would be mandated to make recommendations on sources of funding for the approved institution.

Also speaking, Kogi Commissioner for Works, Mr Simon Bako, said that the state Executive Council approved the procurement of three modern fire trucks as part of plans to ensure rapid responses and salvage any possible fire outbreak in the state.

He also noted that the Council received reports and ratified some of the ongoing projects across the state including the construction of internal roads at the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, itakpe – Okene, among others.

(NAN)