By Jite Eriabie
The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to swiftly assent to the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State Establishment Act recently passed into law by the national assembly.
The Eric Omare-led national executive council of the IYC made the call when it paid a visit to the management of the university in Effurun, Delta state, on Wednesday.
According to Omare, “President Buhari needs to urgently sign the bill into law so as to give the university a legal backing, accelerate the growth of the university and most importantly funding opportunities for it to meet up with its academic obligations as a pioneer petroleum university.
“It would also enable the university to embark on research into oil and gas issues towards resolving some of the environmental crisis bedeviling the Niger Delta region.
It would be recalled that the Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, recently sponsored a bill to provide legal backing to the university, which was promptly passed by the National Assembly, but yet to be assented to by the President
as required by the 1999 Constitution (As amended).
The IYC delegation also charged the petroleum university to carry out research on how to tackle the challenge of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta, arising from decades of oil exploration activities in the region.
Omare also called for legal backing for local refiners and the enabling technology to improve their refining activities.
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