Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State last Friday reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to strengthen the state education sector in order to enhance human capital development.
Ikpeazu made the remark during the inauguration of the Nigeria British University (NBU) in Obuzor, Ukwa West Local Government Area.
The governor said that the primary objective of government is to create a platform that would provide opportunities for the people to build their capacity in different fields of endeavour.
He said the establishment of the university was in line with the state government’s objective to improve the standard of education in the state.
Ikpeazu said that the university was strategically located at the confluence of the South-South and Sourh-East states, adjacent to the state government’s Enyimba Economic City.
He further said that the initiative would complement government’s efforts to facilitate socioeconomic growth in the area.
In an address, Dr Chukwuemeka Umeoji, the Pro-Chancellor of NBU, said the university was built to stem the tide of youth migration to Europe in search of higher education.
He said: “I understand the value of education and it’s impact on society.
“It can transform human character and this encouraged me to embark on this project to promote educational development.
“We are coming with a unique system because education is a global subject”.
“The advent of COVID-19 opened our eyes to a different dimension of acquiring education so we are trying to run an off-and-on-campus programme.
“We want to implement a 24-hour service programme.
“We have a strong IT infrastructure that has a database that can give students lectures delivered even as far back as two years ago.
“We are operating a British standard and we are considering the Nigerian economy and will make it affordable for the average Nigerian.”
According to him, the university consists of the Faculties of Computer Science, Law and School of Business.
Also, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Ruth Ashford, said that the institution focused on providing highly intellectual minds to solve global and local problems.
Ashford said that the university had been built to create a diverse learning environment to enable students to receive good quality education.
The university’s Director of Planning, Dr Medlene Mayfield, said the institution would provide students access to standard education, using British teaching approaches.
Mayfield said that she looked forward to helping young minds achieve their deams and aspirations. (NAN)