Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has submitted three bills to the State House of Assembly seeking to convert the College of Education in Agbor, Anwai Campus of Delta State University (DELSU) and the state-owned polytechnic in Ozoro, Isoko North, to full-fledged universities.
Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly, Sheriff Oborivwore, read the three bills on the floor of the House during Tuesday’s plenary.
Okowa is seeking the conversion of College of Education, Agbor, to Delta State University of Education, Agbor; Delta State University, Anwai Campus, to Delta State University of Science and Agriculture, Anwai, and Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro, to Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro.
Okowa, in the letter announcing the introduction of the bills, urged the lawmakers to give necessary legislative actions to the three bills.
Agbor is a few metres’ drive from Owa Oyibu, where Governor Okowa has also built an institute for teachers in the state. Anwai is a community near Asaba, the state capital, with a campus of Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka. Both are in Delta North area of the state. Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro, was one of the polytechnics founded during the administration of former Governor James Ibori.
According to Speaker Oborevwori, the governor in the letter said the move was as a result of continuous increase in the number of Deltans jostling for space into the few existing universities due to increase in the number of admission seekers.
He further stated that the decision was also to meet the Federal Government decision to upgrade educational and technical education in the country by having degree awarding institutions in these areas.
The three bills have been slated for first reading on Wednesday.
