I’m not ready to create new schools until existing ones are fully accredited —Okowa

Delta State governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has said that the state government cannot afford too many mushroom higher institutions that are not fully accredited.

He noted that he was not ready to create new ones until the existing ones are fully accredited.

Governor Okowa, who spoke at Burutu Town, Burutu Local Government Area of the state during a town hall meeting after he commissioned some projects in the council area, was responding to calls by the people of Burutu for a new polytechnic.

The governor, however, cautioned and appealed to Deltans not be asking for new higher institutions in the state while the existing ones have not yet been fully accredited.

He said the Ozoro Polytechnic, which was created some few years ago by the previous administrations, was facing challenges of non-accreditation of over 30 courses.

He added that Ogwashi-Uku and Oghara Polytechnics are facing similar challenges.

“Everywhere I go people always tell me that there is a higher institution that is supposed to be in so so and so place, but I need to caution Deltans that if you want to have a higher institution, it must be one that is up to standard where your own child can attend and be proud of.

“We don’t want to have too much higher institution where no one is actually functional and where no one is accredited.

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“I am not interested as a state governor in such institutions. We need to get all the higher institutions in the state fully accredited for all their courses, thereafter we can start talking about getting new higher institutions.

“If we decide to have many higher institutions, probably ten, and at the end of the year none of them passed accreditation, you would not have done any good to the state.

“Many of you know that many of our schools are operating with provisional accreditation on all their courses and we are facing that challenge.

“If you go to the Ozoro Polytechnic today, it is faced with accreditation for almost thirty courses and to get full accreditation for thirty courses is not easy but I know that have done some accreditation because of the work they are doing there.

“The Polytechnic at Ogwashi-Uku is almost the same, the polytechnic at Otefe is the same. Most of them are operating on provisional accreditation. So we Will fix those ones to the standard that we can be proud of,” he noted.

Okowa commended the people of Burutu council for maintaining peace and order promising that more developmental projects will be attracted to the riverine areas as the state continues to get high allocations from the federal government.

“We now have peace in Delta State and because the existing peace in the state our resources have improved, and because our resources have improved we now have more projects to be executed. Things are getting better and pray they will continue to get better,” Okowa said.

Earlier, Chairman, Burutu council, Hon Godknows Angele in his address, commended the governor for his landmark projects spread across the nook and cranny of the State, stressing that this has indicated the intention of the governor to bequeath to Delta State a legacy of development, progress, and prosperity for all Deltans.

He promised that the people of Burutu council will continue to reciprocate the kind gesture of the governor by ensuring that they vote him back to power come 2019.

He said, “As you all know Burutu local government area is purely PDP and it will continue to be so. We have always delivered and we will continue to deliver at any election. Therefore I want to appeal to everyone to get prepared with our PVC in the PDP in 2019 for the real change.

The Burutu council chairman who reeled out some of his achievements in office since January this year, also appealed to governor Okowa to connect Burutu town to the National grid, construct motorable roads that will link Burutu town to the hinterland by completing the ongoing Ayokoromo bridge, complete the permanent site of the Delta State School of Marine Technology and upgrade it to degree awarding institution.

He commended Governor Okowa for the execution and completion of Burutu Township Roads, saying that it has changed the aesthetic value of the town.