THE NEED TO ESTABLISH A CONVENTIONAL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OWNED TERTIARY INSTITUTION IN ABIA STATE!

0/07/2017
by Hon (engr) Solomon Adaelu!!
(co-sponsor: Hon Ossy Prestige)
It came as a surprise to the Honourable Members at the Plenary today as Hon Solomon Adaelu brought to the notice of all the nonavailability of any Conventional Federal Government Owned TERTIARY Institution in Abia State through the MOTION he moved on the ‘Need To Establish A Conventional Federal Government Owned Tertiary Institution in Abia State’. The Motion which came on the heal of the White Paper from the Federal Ministry of Education which has mandated Micheal Okpara University of AGRICULTURE, Umudike and others to offer only Agricultural-related Courses, was timely and apt.
According to Hon Adaelu, the implementation of the White Paper will throw majority of our Students out of the School System as there is no Conventional Federal Tertiary Institution to absorb them in Abia State.
The situation is so appalling that Abia State Indigenes are shortchanged in the Admission process into Federal Institutions in Nigeria in spite of the State’s towering/unassailable height in West African School Certificate Examinations for some time now thereby leaving the Candidates with no other option than the highly exorbitant state-owned Institutions. The benefits enjoyed by other States through the Establishment of Federal Tertiary Institutions with guarantee of 35% catchment/Locality and 20% Disadvantaged Status as indicated by the Admission process into Federal Tertiary Institutions always elude Abia Candidates. In this case however, it is only the 45% Merit window (which the host States hardly adhere to) that is left for our candidates to explore in order to be enrolled into Federal Institutions- that are highly subsidized by the Federal Government from our commonwealth.
The available statistics however indicate that there is no Federal Government Conventional University; as well as Federal Polythechnic, Federal College of Education and Federal Teaching Hospital in Abia State – which put the State in a precarious and disadvantaged position as compared with other States of the Federation.
it is disheartening that Aba- the Enyimba City reputed for being the hub of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) with major breakthrough in Indigenous Technology and Craftsmanship in Nigeria does not have a Federal Polytechnic to harness the potentials inherent in them to drive the Industralization of the Country. One therefore wonder the criteria for the siting of Federal Institutions in the past if Abia State could be denied a Federal Polytechnic in view of the role Aba (nicknamed the ‘Japan of Africa’) has played in promoting and driving Indigenous Technology in Nigeria and by extension, Africa as a whole.
While drumming support for the MOTION, Hon Uzoma Abonta, Hon Ossy Prestige (co-sponsor) and Hon Darlington Nwokocha in their individual submissions appealed to other members of the House to help Abia State overcome this ugly situation posed by lack of/ non-availability of Conventional Federal Tertiary Institution by supporting this all-important MOTION that will strengthen our School System.
The HOUSE in an unanimous decision resolved to MANDATE the House Committee on Education to engage the Federal Ministry of Education on the need to suspend the implementation of the White Paper on Micheal Okpara University, Umudike while modalities are put in place to ESTABLISH a Conventional Federal University, College of Education and Federal Polytechnic in Abia State to carter for the Educational needs of the people of Abia State and report back to the House within one month.
Thank you our Honourables.