The Rivers State Government is considering upgrading the Kenule Beeson Saro Wiwa Polytechnic to a University of Environment. The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike made the announcement on Tuesday when he received the Khana-Gokana-Tai-Eleme Group (KAGOTE) at the Government House yesterday.
There have been sparks of conversations about the upgrade, since the College of Arts and Science was turned into a Polytechnic in 2016. An Ogoni Special Congress organized by the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) in July 2016, released a communique requesting that the Rivers State Governor also upgrades the Polytechnic to a University. “Whilst noting Rivers State Government’s efforts to make education more available to citizens of the State, particularly for middle level manpower development by formalizing the upgrade of the Rivers State College of Arts and Science to a polytechnic, congress calls on the Rivers State Government, as part of ways of promoting quality education and higher-level manpower development in the state, to immediately set in motion a machinery for the upgrade of the Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic to a degree awarding institution or a full-fledged university.” the communique read in part.
The Rivers State Governor told the leadership of KAGOTE that he believes it is necessary for a University of Environment to be established, because Ken Saro Wiwa was an environmentalist who spearheaded the struggle for better environment. He said he will set up a committee to look into the possibility of establishing the University.
The Polytechnic was first established in 1988 by the then Military Governor of Rivers State, Colonel Anthony Ukpo as the Rivers State Polytechnic. It was renamed to Kenule Beeson Saro Wiwa Polytechnic in August 2015 after the current Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, signed the bill passed by the state lawmakers. The institution was named after Ken Saro Wiwa, an Ogoni Environmental Activist who was killed by the military administration of Sani Abaha in November 1995.
Credit: Touch PH
