President Muhammadu Buhari has been commended for signing into law the bill establishing the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun.
Chairman, Governing Council of the University, Prof. Abdullahi Zuru, gave the commendation at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.
Prof. Zuru said the university had been struggling in the past 10 years because past leaders failed to pass the bill establishing the university into law.
He also identified special funding from the oil and gas industry as another reason why the bill was not passed in the past.
According to him, the passage of the bill into law would bring development to the university and the Niger delta region.
He commended the National Universities Commission (NUC), Minister of Education, Minister of Justice and other stakeholders for their roles in the passage of the bill into law.
He said: “This achievement is our collective feet as a university. The survival of this university was actually hinged on the passage of this bill into law. We are very optimistic that a lot will be tricking in.
“The university has been struggling for the past 10 years to have this bill signed into law. It didn’t happen. It is a huge development for the university. Rivalries from conventional universities delayed the passage of the bill into law in the past.
“It will enable the university to draw from the experiences of similar specialized centres globally. It will also enable the university to build strategic partnership with development partners.”
He said the university has secured N1.2 billion from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund as special intervention project to develop the university.
Prof. Zuru added that the university currently runs 13 programmes which are fully accredited by the National Universities Commission.