The National Universities Commission has approved the take-off of the University of Agriculture and Environmental Science in Umuagwo, Imo State, which is now the 171st university in the country.
The approval was given on Thursday to the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, at the NUC Headquarters, Abuja, after the governor led other state executives to seek licence for the university, just a month to the end of his tenure.
The NUC Executive Secretary, Prof Abubakar Rasheed, said the new university became the second university owned by the state government, having satisfied the requirements of the commission.
Rasheed said, “In line with our rules, we shall recognize this institution because it has fulfilled all the requirements. The Imo State House of Assembly has enacted a law in respect of the university, and the governor of the state has also assented to the law.
“Of all the six universities proposed to be established by the Imo State Government, the University of Agriculture and Environmental Science has all strategic documents ready and they have been presented to us. The NUC therefore recognizes the existence of the University of Agriculture and Environmental Science as the 49th state university as well as the 171st university in the Nigerian university system.”
The state governor, Okorocha, said the university became necessary due to the increasing number of university admission seekers from the state.
He said, “We have over 600,000 students seeking admission through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board into universities. Based on this, the state government is building more universities to cushion this challenge and provide more universities for our students to attend.
“We already ensured that infrastructure was in place and we also partnered private investors. It is a special purposed university.
Punch
