From Fred Itua, Abuja
Senate has passed into law, a bill setting up the Maritime University of Nigeria, Okerenkoko, in Delta State.
Establishment of the maritime university became controversial in 2016, following a declaration by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, that the university will be cancelled.
Brushing off Amaechi’s opposition, yesterday, Senate went ahead with consideration of the bill and eventually passed it into law. Passage of the bill for the establishment of the university was sequel to a report presented for consideration by Chairman of the Committee on Tertiary Education, Barau Jibrin.
The university was established by former President Goodluck Jonathan, in May 2015.
The bill to provide for the establishment of the univesity was sponsored by Senator James Manager and, on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, Senate debated its general principles and, thereafter, read it a second time. It was then referred to the Committee on Tertiary Institutions for further legislative action, before it returned, yesterday and it was eventually passed into law.
According to the Senate, with its passage of, “the university will create opportunities for learning and employment for Nigerians, especially people of the Niger Delta as well as bring about the needed peace in the region by reducing youth restiveness currently being experienced in the area.”
Senate also approved that “the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Shipping Council of Nigeria, Nigerian Port Authority, and maritime/ shipping stakeholders shall provide a percentage of their annual budgets for running of the university as this would give it the special funding needed for acquiring world class facilities needed for specialised training in the maritime sector.”
Meanwhile, Senator Manager, who described the passage as a welcome development, said “establishment of the university would further entrench peace in Niger Delta,” just as he appealed to “militants in the region to embrace peace in the interest of the development of the region.”
In the report, the committee said: “The university shall be supervised by the Federal Ministry of Education with the following responsibilities: The Federal Ministry of Education through the National Universities Commission (NUC) shall be responsible for approving and regulating all academic programmes run in the University, to ensure quality compliance and provide funds for academic and research programmes, infrastructures and remunerations of employees. “Additional funding for the university shall accrue from the following sources: 100 of the total annual budget of Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources; 0.5 percent of the total annual budget of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas; 0.300 percent of the total annual budget of all oil producing companies operating in the Niger Delta; The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund); among others.