On Wednesday, Delta Governor Ifeanyi Okowa praised the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for its contribution to the country’s tertiary education growth and progress.
At Government House in Asaba, Okowa presented the commendation to the Chairman and members of the House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education and Services, led by Rt. Hon. Aminu Suleiman.
He expressed his pride in TETFund’s exceptional contributions to research and infrastructure development in higher education institutions across the country.
He described the National Assembly as a crucial government entity, praising it for enacting legislation and performing oversight tasks that have resulted in Nigeria’s educational growth.
“As it stands in this country, the more the National Assembly actually goes out on oversight functions, the more likely we are going to have better institutions.
“There is no doubt that through various laws passed by our nation and the Act establishing the TETFund, a lot has been done in tertiary institutions.
“But, I still think that generally as a country, we must begin to look very closely into the funding and research of the tertiary institutions more than we are doing at the moment.
“This will help in the development of the mind and the higher institutions, and will also help in trying to bring us to compete with other universities of the world,” Okowa said.
On his administration’s entrepreneurial programs, Okowa stated that “we may not be able to preserve the peace being constructed at the moment until we begin to grow youth entrepreneurs in various aspects such as skill acquisitions and agricultural entrepreneurship programs.”
“The more youths we are meaningfully able to take out of poverty, the better for us. So, our type of program is not just a youth empowerment program, it’s an entrepreneurial program.
“We train them for both skills and mind; we empower them and monitor them very closely. We have had a reasonable success story, say about 70 per cent at the moment; many of them are now standing on their own and even training others.”
In the education sector, Okowa stated that indigenes of Delta state desired to continue their study at higher institutions, which led to the state’s upgrading of three higher colleges to universities.
“I am glad that you have talked about Federal University of Technology, Asaba. I think that with the facilities at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, the Federal Government would not be spending more to get the university running.
“It’s just a question of upgrading the Federal College of Education (Technical) Asaba. They have enough structures and a good number of lecturers also,’’ he said.
He urged members of the National Assembly to perform their parts in keeping the country unified and giving people hope during this difficult time, stating that the legislature was a critical part of the polity.
Suleiman had previously informed the governor that his team was in the state to continue its oversight duty, and that one of the legislature’s tasks was to perform oversight on the state of institutions of higher learning in order for them to fulfil their appropriation duties.
He praised Okowa for his commitment, honesty, and dedication to duty, which had resulted in the vast development of roads across the state, as well as his youth economic empowerment programs, which had resulted in the state’s long-term calm.
Source: The Vanguard.