Adebayo Adenrele
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has expressed utmost satisfaction with quality and pace of work going on at the College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi Ovia North East Local Government Area of the state by an Indigenous construction company.
The work which involved the construction of 250-capacity lecture theatre, an administrative block, college library, academic block 1 and 2, college auditorium complex, health center and the college main gate, among others is being handled by Peculiar Ultimate Concern Nigeria Limited.
The Governor who led other members of the state executive council to inspect the work said,
“We are here today and we have seen the massive progress of work despite the heavy rains that have slowed down the pace of work in the last five months. Contractors needed to slow down and readjust their schedule and today, the progress of work is visible for us all to see.”
“If agriculture is important to us as a nation, then we must have institutions that prepare and train very capable and competent personnel, particularly middle level manpower for the agriculture industry.
“This is going to be a classic collaboration between the government and the private sector. The Governing Council of this school is 60 per cent made up of those already in the agric business as they will help define the curriculum that will be taught.
“The school will not be another certificate awarding institution, rather a job creating institution. This is the unique difference, which is why I have taken over two hours inspecting facilities in the institution.”
On his part, Managing Director of Peculiar Ultimate Concern, Engineer Lanre Adeleke thanked the Governor for believing in the capacity of a home grown firm to do the job, adding the quality of materials and expertise deployed in the construction would compete with any counterpart in the world.
Engineer Adeleke noted that in every lecture block, there were two sets of laboratories to accommodate large number of students during practicals.
He explained that the company had decided to keep vigil with the work and deny itself holiday in order to meet up with proposed opening of the College.
He thereby appealed to the staff and students to take ownership and use them with care and caution.
See video: