The Honourable Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, OON, has reiterated Government’s determination to make universities relevant and responsive to the needs of their immediate environments.

She said this on Thursday, 2 August, 2012, during a visit of the Ministerial Implementation Committee (MIC) for the nine new Federal universities, to the Federal University, Otuoke (FUO), Bayelsa State.

Government, she said, planned to ensure that the peculiar needs of the host communities are met by the various universities.

The Federal University Otuoke, situated in an area of the Niger Delta, characterised by wetlands and rich in crude oil, with potentials for natural gas, she emphasised, is naturally expected to become a
Centre of Excellence (CoEx) that would address the various environmental issues in the region,
thus improving the lot of the local people in particular, and the nation in general.

The Minister noted that with the establishment of a Federal University at Otuoke, the town has been transformed and it is bringing development closer to the people, adding that the unique environmental and climatic challenges faced by the University, mainly water logging, had slowed down the pace of infrastructural development on the campus.

She commended the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mobolaji Aluko for tackling the challenges and for the remarkable progress the University had made.