Rep pushes for maritime police, as Ekureku monotechnic begins academic activities in Cross River

 

By Dickson Omobola

The lawmaker representing Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Dr Alex Egbona, on Friday, disclosed that the Ekureku centre of the Nigerian Institute of Leather and Science Technology, NILEST, is getting ready to commence academic activities.

NILEST is located at Ekureku, Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State.

Similarly, Mr Bernard Igiri, an indigene of Ekureku, has been transfered from the institute’s directorate of research and development in Zaria to Ekureku to oversee the new centreThe federal government commenced construction work at the temporary campus of the institute at Ekureku.

Speaking in an interview on Friday, Egbona said he decided to approach the federal government to attract the institute to his federal constituency because of the need to empower his people.

He said he was exciting to know that after years of lobby and pressure on the authorities, the institute was finally at the verge of taking off at the Ekureku centre.

He said in the next few years, the economy of Ekureku would come alive, as people would be visiting the town for high quality leather materials, including those for shoes, bags, chairs, wrist watches among others.

He thanked the federal government for considering Ekureku as site for the monotechnic, saying “everybody from Cross River and beyond would have the opportunity to learn at the centre.

“This is coming even as Egbona’s bill for the establishment of the Nigerian Maritime Corps has passed through second reading on the floor of the lower chamber of the National Assembly.

The bills seeks to achieve the enactment of a law that would promote maritime security in the nation’s waterways.It was read a second time and then referred to committee on Navy as well as the committee on maritime safety, education and administration.

Speaking on the bill, Egbona said: “The many cases of insecurity on the waterways across the country, including the Niger Delta region, would be taken care of by the time the bill is passed into law.”


He thanked his colleagues for supporting the bill and expressed the hope that it would soon be passed and accented to, by the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

<<CLICK/TAP HERE>>