Buhari yields to Niger Delta, orders opening of Maritime University

President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that the Nigerian Maritime University, Delta State, be opened for activities before the end of the year “is in line with the demands championed by major stakeholders” in the Niger Delta region of the country, the presidency has said.

The directive comes a day after the Nigeria Senate passed a bill to give legal backing to the school, three years after its foundation was laid by the former president Goodluck Jonathan.

The decision to open the new university followed recent engagements Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had with Niger Delta leaders on behalf of the federal government.

The presidency, Thursday, described the development as “a clear effort to further the Niger Delta New Vision policy of the Buhari administration.”

A statement issued by Laolu Akande, the spokesperson of the vice president, said a five-man inter-agency Committee to be headed by the Minister of Education, will see to the implementation of the president’s directive.

Other members of the committee will be picked from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, National Universities Commission, NUC, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and the Office of the Deputy Governor of Delta State.

“The Committee is to finalize the ongoing processes towards the opening of the Nigeria Maritime University in the 2017/2018 Academic Session. The Committee will work collaboratively with the current Principal Officers and the Governing Council of the institution,” Mr. Akande said in the statement.


Mr. Akande said that the federal government was at the final stage of developing technical criteria for the issuance of operating licenses for the establishment of modular refineries in the Niger Delta, in addition to having a roadmap that would address the development challenges in the region.