Delta Governor, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, on Thursday, said the School of Marine Technology, Burutu, would soon be upgraded by the state government.
Okowa disclosed this during the inauguration of three legacy projects executed by the Hon. Godknows Angele led administration in Burutu, headquarters of Burutu Council Area.
The inaugurated projects were the legislative residential quarters, Head of Personnel Management (HPM) residential quarters and Treasurer to Local Government (TLG) residential quarters.
The Governor who was responding to requests by the community, noted that the problem with School of Marine Technology was that it was previously under the supervision of the State Ministry of Transport, adding that as part of effort aimed at repositioning the school, it has been moved from the Ministry of Transport to the Ministry of Higher Education.
While saying that a substantive Provost would soon be appointed for the institution, Governor Okowa assured the people that the state government was mobilising action for work on the permanent site of the school.
“I want reassure you that we are going to look into the various requests that you have made and that we will do our best possible.
“First of all, l must apologise that we have not taken much action on the School of Marine Technology but you would have realised that the school, in my opinion, has been slowed down from growth because it remains in the Ministry of Transport.
“But recently, we have moved it from the Ministry of Transport to the Ministry of Higher Education. That is a first step to upgrade the institution and we are committed about the school. Very soon, a substantive Provost will be appointed for the school,” he added.
Governor Okowa applauded Hon. Angele for being very focused, adding that he was quite glad that the council chairman did not disappoint him.
“I pleaded with our leaders to allow Hon. Godknows Angele to become chairman of the local government council. I know that as l did that, l was putting a lot of burden on him.
“Our leaders agreed and l must thank them and the people of Burutu for allowing him to be the local government chairman. I am glad to see the things that l see here today.
“That he has a befitting legislative quarters which matters a lot to me. The reason why it matters is that it will enable our councillors to reside in Burutu at least for some part of the week.
“So that people will not continue to stay in Warri and Ughelliand rule over the affairs of this local government from elsewhere.
“That is very thoughtful of him and l am glad that he has quarters for the councillors, the Head of Personnel Management (HPM) and Treasurer to Local Government (TLG).
“l must thank you for this foresight and l thank you for the very good stories l have continued to hear about you from your people,” the governor said.
Earlier in his welcome address, Chairman of the Council, Hon. Godknows Angele said the legacy projects were embarked upon by his administration to provide shelter for councillors, HPM and the TLG in Burutu, the local government headquarters.
Angele disclosed that the project which earned him award among three other local government areas out of the 774 local government areas in the country has also placed Delta State among the three states out of the 36 states of the federation to be so recognised.
According to him, besides the legacy projects, there are other projects spread across the nooks and crannies of the local government area which are at various stages of completion, adding that when completed, they would be inaugurated for the benefit of the people in the area.
“To achieve further development, we need the cooperation of all and sundry. I, therefore, wish to appeal to everyone to please give this administration the much needed support in this second tenure,” the Chairman said.
While noting that apart from Kiagbodo town, no other town in the area is linked to the national grid, he said “we provide electricity supply to stimulate economic growth and encourage the development of small and medium scale enterprises.
“It cost my administration N6,000,000 monthly to fuel the two generators providing electricity to Burutu, headquarters of the local government area,” he added, even as he appealed to the governor to prevail on the relevant authorities to come to their aid by connecting Burutu to the national grid.
In an address presented by the Chairman of Burutu Community, Mr. Herman Ekisah, the people who applauded the landmark achievements of the governor in different parts of the state, appealed to him to change the status of the School of Marine Technology from monotechnic to polytechnic, even as they called for the appointment of a substantive Provost for the School as well as the development of the permanent site of the institution among other requests.