Traffic was held up for several hours in Ozoro, headquarters of the Isoko north council area of Delta State, on Wednesday as indigenes blocked the busy Asaba-Ughelli motorway in the town, protesting the relocation of the Faculty of Management Sciences from the Delta State University of Science and Technology to Orerokpe.
Most other outlets in the town were barricaded, and bonfires were made in different locations to express their anger over the relocation from the Delta South Senatorial District to the Central Zone.
Some of the protesters alleged that the move was politically motivated
” We want the state government to have a change of heart towards the decision and focus more on the agenda of the incumbent governor in order to move the state forward.
“This relocation is going to cause a lot of setbacks to students of that faculty. Rather, a new faculty of the institution could be located in Orerokpee,” one of the protesters, Johnson Umukoro, said.
Some of the affected students, however, complained of the inconveniences they are exposed to in the relocation plan, urging the state government to jettison the idea.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Professor Jacob Oboreh, has called for calm and understanding amidst the raging crisis over the relocation.
Prof. Oboreh, in a statement on Wednesday, said the relocation of the Faculty of Management Sciences from Ozoro to Orerokpe was intended to open up more rapid development at the University of Science and Technology.
According to him, 12 new programmes in the existing faculties will be created immediately in the area of science and technology, adding that the programmes being relocated will not in any way be set back at the university.
“In addition to these new 12 programmes, three faculties of Basic Medical Sciences, Pharmacy, and Health Sciences have been approved for the university by the governor.
“The Isoko and Ozoro people should accept the relocation in good faith, and let me assure all concerned that we will give equal opportunities to all Deltans in terms of admission and other considerations.
“The Isoko people, who are major stakeholders in the university, have met with the governor, and he has opened up his plans for the rapid development of the university.
“I therefore, call on all our people to be calm and allow the Governor to unfold his massive development plans for our nascent university and the overall educational sector in our state.”
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