Delta Communities, IYC Fault Plans To Relocate Maritime Varsity

Some communities in Niger Delta and the Ijaw Youth Congress (IYC) have criticised the recent move by the Federal Government to relocate the Maritime University from its original location to another, even as they described such as further ploy to delay the opening of the first specialised Maritime University in West Africa.
The Federal Government had through the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) sent a memo to the National Assembly, advising it to change the name of the community for the Nigerian Maritime University in Delta State from Okerenkwo to Okereghigho.
It was learnt that the Federal Government’s decision on the change was hinged on the fact that the inhabitants where the school is sited and their Itsekiri neighbours were fighting over the ownership of the land.
However, IYC in a statement by its president, Mr Eric Omare, said that there was no truth in claims by the Itsekiri that the community where the school was sited belonged to them, adding that there was evidence to prove that the land belonged to the Ijaw, Gbaramatu Kingdom.
The IYC said “our attention has been drawn to a newspaper wherein one H. A.
Tahir, an officer in the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, issued a memo to the effect that the correct name of the community hosting the Nigerian Maritime University should be Okerenghigho and not Okerenkoko.