The story behind Delta State’s three new universities is traced to 2016. An education summit was held early in the year to address the myriad of challenges besetting education in the State.
When Governor Ifeanyi Okowa assumed office in 2015, he made a commitment to leave an enduring legacy in the education sector. True to it, Okowa brought his intellectual capacity to bear in the sector, and more so, in every project he executed in the State.
The folklore became a reality. The Government of Delta State under Governor Okowa established three new universities namely: University of Delta, Agbor; Dennis Osadebey University, Asaba and Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the University of Delta, Agbor was a college of education while the Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro was a polytechnic and the Dennis Osadebey University, a former campus of the Delta State University, Abraka.
A tour of the three new universities shows that the Okowa administration has done so much in upgrading facilities in the three new institutions since they were established by the State Government over a year ago.
The Delta State Governor had emphasized the upgrade of facilities in the institutions was in line with his administration’s commitment to the development of education in the State.
The need for 3 universities
In recent years, the premier State university, DELSU, Abraka had been over-burdened with the problem of admission. Qualified students from the State were denied admission into the university and into federal and other public universities across the country. Therefore, the need for the three universities came up as a result of the deficit.
For instance, in 2018, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) released a report, which indicated that a total of 80,131 Deltans, representing 4.85 per cent of admission seekers nationwide sat for the board’s examination while only 26 per cent were offered admission due to inadequate entry space.
Also, out of 25,000 candidates from the State who applied for admission in the 2020/2021 academic session at the State university, Abraka, over 20,000 candidates qualified for admission, but only 4,000 were admitted.
In the academic session before, 25,896 candidates from the State chose DELSU as their first choice. Out of this number, 22,358 qualified but only 4,854 candidates could be admitted.
Peeved by the development, the education summit of 2016 was held with far-reaching recommendations, one of which is the steps taken by the Okowa administration to birth the three universities.
Also worthy of note is the fact that there are about 500 public secondary schools in Delta State. Private secondary schools in the State are higher in number. All of them turn out students every year; thus increasing the population of admission-seekers.
Similarly, there was consideration for those graduating from the over 10 technical colleges in the State. A University of Science and Technology provides a better option for them. It is in furtherance of this that the State is establishing a technical college in each of the 25 council areas of the State. The Okowa administration has established 4 of these.
It is on record that admission seekers in Delta State are no longer interested in National Certificate in Education (NCE) programmes, judging from the admission charts of the colleges of education in the State.
To put this into perspective, admission into the then College of Education, Agbor in 2021 was as low as 25 students. This is despite the fact that there are over 400 qualified lecturers in the institution with most of them Ph.D holders and a monthly wage bill of N206 million.
Meanwhile, the federal government had reached decisions to abolish Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes from polytechnics nationwide. So, the question was: what happens to the graduates of the three polytechnics in the State after their National Diploma programmes?
Given the foregoing, the need for the three new universities cannot be overemphasized.
The journey of three universities
Governor Okowa’s decision to establish the three universities came with the signing into law of three executive bills establishing the three institutions and thus setting a record of four public universities in a State.
The executive bills originally sent to the State House of Assembly were for the University of Education, Agbor; University of Science and Agriculture, Asaba and Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro. During a public hearing organised by the legislature to take stakeholders’ contributions into the creation of the universities, the idea was fine-tuned, despite opposition from different quarters that the universities were politically motivated.
However, the fine-tuning resulted in changing the names of the institutions from what was enshrined in the bills.
After inputs from stakeholders during the public hearing, the lawmakers saw reasons to change the names of the institutions to Delta State University, Agbor, to run a full-fledged university system, instead of education courses alone which it inherited from the education college it evolved from.
The legislators were also of the view that the State should immortalise the late Premier of the Midwest region, Sir Dennis Osadebe, an indigene of Asaba by renaming the university in Asaba after him, while the University of Science and Technology, Ozoro remains to hopefully absorb students graduating from the remaining two other polytechnics at Ogwashi Uku and Oghara after their national diploma programmes and also students from the technical colleges spread across the State.
Recall that it was in January 2021 that Governor Okowa first announced plans to convert the College of Education, Agbor and the two other new schools into full-fledged universities. The bills establishing the institutions had their first reading during plenary at the Delta State House of Assembly on the 28th of January 2021. In February 2021, the bills were passed into law after going through the House Committee on Education.
While assenting to the bills, Governor Okowa said “What we have done today is in the best interest of the State because it is a futuristic thing and people will come to appreciate it in the future”.
Subsequently, Governor Okowa set up a Project Management Committee for the universities headed by Professor Patrick Muoboghare to bring the three universities to a functional state.
TNG reports the University of Delta, Agbor offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses covering five faculties: Agriculture, Arts, Education, Information Technology and Law.
While the Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses covering seven faculties: Agriculture, Science, Earth Science, Engineering, Environmental science, Information technology and Management technology; Dennis Osadebay University offers undergraduate courses and currently comprises six faculties: Agriculture, Science, Management and Social Sciences, Environmental Science, Arts and Computing.
It is instructive to note that the Delta State University of Science and Technology, Ozoro was first established as a College of Agriculture which was turned into a Polytechnic on January 1, 2002, by law during the administration of James Ibori.
Facilities and the question of funding for 3 new universities in Delta
Findings during the tour show all three new universities in Delta State are up and running. Facilities in the institutions are state of the art.
However, the University of Science and Technology, Ozoro; and the University of Delta, Agbor have more facilities on the ground. Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, which was in a more critical state due to the dearth of infrastructure on the campus, has a lot of projects ongoing.
A 500-seater and a twin 250-seater auditorium, Faculty of Agriculture buildings, lecture theatres and Halls of Residence have reached completion stages at the university. By the time the projects in Dennis Osadebay University are completed, the institution will wear a new look overall.
Even more so, Okowa had expressed confidence in inaugurating some projects in the university before leaving office in May.
If you visited Dennis Osadebay University before the metamorphosis, you will agree that what has happened there is almost magical.
Overall, the Okowa administration has done so much in upgrading facilities in the three new universities since they were established by the State government over a year ago.
In their first year, Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba admitted no fewer than 650 students, while the University of Delta, Agbor admitted 2,000 students and Ozoro, 1,800 students.
Meanwhile, the big question was how the State Government can fund three universities, considering the number of other higher institutions in the State which include two polytechnics in Ogwashi-Uku and Otefe-Oghara, two colleges of education in Warri and Mosogar, a school of marine technology, three schools of nursing, two schools of midwifery and a school of health technology.
However, in defending its stand on the financial implications of running the three new universities, the State government made it clear that there will be no financial burden on the State as such, stressing the new institutions were upgraded from existing and functional institutions with enough manpower.
Indeed, the three new universities in Delta State are testimonials that Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa is a visionary leader.