Managing Director of the Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has announced the commission’s readiness to launch 650-bed hostel complex at the Niger Delta University, in Amassoma, Bayelsa State, by next month.
While on the project inspection tour, Ogbuku, declared that the commission was never going to relent in carrying its task of building capacity universities across Niger Delta region; adding that NDDC would come in to see that students of various universities in delta region, undertake their studies in completion of the students’ hostel.
He further added that the project was achieved in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directives to ensure that all legacy projects within the region were completed;
reaffirming the Commission’s commitment to strengthening collaboration with NDU in key areas, including infrastructural development, research, and youth empowerment initiatives, to promote sustainable growth and development across the region.
The Boss, who embarked on the inspection tour with the Vice Chancellor of NDU, Professor Allen Agih, the NDDC Executive Director, Projects, Dr Victor Antai, and other Directors of the Commission, revealed that the NDDC had built similar hostels at other universities across the Niger Delta region.
According to him: “We are committed to doing whatever has to be done within our capacity to ensure that we add value to the educational system in the Niger Delta.
“We have invested so much in education, not only at the tertiary level but at the primary and secondary school level. Recently, we acquired 45,000 U-Tablets for children at the secondary and primary school levels. This is to help them become acquainted with digital education. It can be used both online and offline, so that those who do not have money to pay for private tutors can also use it to learn.”
However, Ogbuku hinted that a 1,000KVA generator and a brand-new 23-seater bus had been donated to the university by the commission: expressing that the hostel complex would improve the quality of education, enhance student welfare, and foster a conducive academic environment.
Earlier in his speech, the commission’s boss while on a courtesy call at the university’s Senate Building, charged Nigerian universities to invest more resources and energy in research to ensure their self-sustainability.
Also, the Vice Chancellor of Niger Delta University, Professor Allen Agih, poured out a heart of gratitude to the commission, for its sustained support in advancing education and infrastructure in the Niger Delta region; urging for more support in the areas of electricity and staff quarters for both academic and non-academic staff of the university.
He, therefore , commended the commission for donating electricity generators and transformers to the university and sort for further assistance in addressing the university’s power supply challenges.
: “The hostel will ease accommodation pressure at the institution. We have about 22,000 students, and only about 10,000 are residents on the university campus” he stated.
According to the Vice Chancellor, many undergraduates currently reside off-campus in remote communities, often encountering daily problems with transportation, safety, and limited access to campus facilities.
Meanwhile, Ogbuku and his team also inspected the 50-bed Amassoma hospital, where he pledged to increase capacity to 150 beds and to include a paediatric ward, an Intensive Care Unit, and a laboratory.
