By JACINTA NWACHUKWU

The Federal Government will on Thursday inaugurate a 1,050-bed space hostel at the University of Uyo in Akwa Ibom to address lack of adequate accommodation in the school.

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, announced during an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.

Akpabio said that out of the number, 50 would be for people living with disabilities, adding that same project would be replicated in all the Niger Delta states.

“Mr President will on Dec. 30 inaugurate one out of the numerous hostels that we are building through the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and donating to students.

“We will be inaugurating 1,050-bed space hostel at the University of Uyo.

“The 1,050-bed space hostel has been completed with 24,000 gallons of water per day, 22 standby 1,200KV generating set and 5,000 vehicular parking space among others,’’ he said.

The minister also said that 122KVA sub-station would be inaugurated in Ondo State to provide electricity to about five local government areas which had been in darkness for 14 years.

According to him, many projects in the Niger Delta region have been completed.

“The East-West Road also is ongoing with about 41 bridges and we have moved from 76 per cent that we found on ground to over 82 per cent.

“We are making impact with the little resources we have; we have over 109 internal roads and 37 intra-states roads ongoing; we are also doing land reclamation in areas of much polluted conditions.

“The Federal Government in collaboration with the oil companies is handling the major clean-up , the Ogoni clean-up,’’ he said.

He added that among 13,777 projects, the ministry would select the ones that would impact positively on the communities and ensure their completion.

In the area of agriculture, Akpabio said that the ministry would get assistance from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to harness the opportunities for people of the area.

He went further that “We are working on it so that the nine states of Niger Delta can go into areas of comparative advantage.

“For instance; if my place has a land that is very good in cassava production, then we should be able to produce enough for the pharmaceutical industry and feed people in terms of starch and Garri.

“There is a lot of hope once we can channel our energies towards the right direction in the agro-allied area.

“We are also involved in skill training. We have built skills acquisition centres in all the nine states of Niger Delta and many of them have been completed and handed over to schools.’’

Akpabio said a lot of changes were taking place in the region outside human capital development and assured the people that 2022 would be bright for them.

“I see more completed projects in 2022, more people being empowered and a more peaceful region as we go forward,’’ he said. (NAN)

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