Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has described the planed scrapping of the Maritime University, Okerenkoko by the Federal Government as uncalled for.
Okowa who stated this on Wednesday in Asaba during his maiden press briefing observed that Nigeria deserves more than one of such university and as such, there was no reason for an already established one with a functional governing council to be scrapped.
The Governor was accompanied during the interactive session by the Deputy Governor, Barr. Kingsley Otuaro, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Hon. Ovie Agas, Commissioner for Information, Mr Patrick Ukah and the state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Norbert Chiazor.
Okowa stated that the Okerenkoko Community where the University was sited had protested against the scrapping of the University, disclosing that he would personally, present their protest letter to President Mohamadu Buhari for appropriate action.
“It will not be right to scrap the Maritime University, we need more of such institution, the Okerenkoko Community has protested against such move and I will make presentation on the issue to the President because, scrapping such an institution will be a huge loss to the Federal Government and a major set-back in man-power development in the maritime sector,” the Governor said.
He used the opportunity to also speak on the state of security in the state, noting that menace of Herdsmen has become a national issue that was difficult to tackle.
According to him, “the greatest challenge is that we do not have grazing reserves, as such, the herdsmen move about without restriction; unfortunately, some of them are heavily armed, we have set up measures to check the criminal elements among them, but, we also know that the constitution does not provide for us to eject them from our state.”
He added, “some of them have been involved in criminal cases and the kidnap and subsequent death of our royal father, the King of Ubulu-Uku – may his soul rest in peace, has been linked to them, we have adopted security measures which I cannot expose right now.”
On the recent shooting in Effurun and its environs, the Governor assured residents of the areas affected that such would soon be a thing of the past as measures have been put in place to arrest the situation, adding that those involved in the criminal action that took place at Shoprite, Effurun would also, face the wrath of the law.
The Governor said, “we have our strategies to check security issues in the state, what happened at Shoprite was an unfortunate incident, the CCTV (Close Circuit Television) recorded everything that happened and by the time those things are presented in the Court, those involved in the criminal activity will have no place to run to.”
He also spoke on the erection of security gates at streets, saying that such would be regulated in the interest of all residents of the city, reiterating that measures being put in place would ensure adequate security of lives and property.
