The Chairman of House Committee on Agricultural Colleges and Institutions, Hon. Linus Abaa Okorie has solicited the amendment of tertiary institutions Act to create way for agricultural colleges and institutions in the country to benefit from intervention funds.
Giving his speech at the one day public hearing on Tertiary Institutions and Services in Abuja, Okorie lamented the inadequate funding of the nation’s agricultural institutions which was affecting their mandate.
He noted that no nation anywhere in the world would leave its Agricultural Colleges and Research Institutes, to run around with cap in hand looking for funds to implement mandates that were strategic to food security of that nation, hence, the need for adequate funding now.
“Most of agricultural institutions across the nation were underfunded, and eventually they under-performed which was not good for the nation at this time of the day,” he lamented.
Okorie was emphatic that the population of well over 70 million Nigerians must have a viable agricultural research institutes, noting that research institutes which were supposed to proffer solutions to the nation’s economy, were handicapped.
He explained that the opportunity afforded the National Assembly to amend TETFUND Act was an opportunity for funding of Agricultural Research Institutes to be captured in the Act.
“I want to submit that the opportunity of amending TETFUND should be used to capture funding of Agricultural Research Institutes this time,”Okorie maintained.
Meanwhile, Chairman, House Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Services, Aminu Suleiman noted that the committee would do everything within its powers to strengthen educational sector in the country.
He added that the essence of calling all stakeholders in education sector was to elicit information based on their experiences and opinions which would form the legislative framework in order to get the best of the sector.
Monday’s public hearing witnessed mammoth crowd with almost all heads of education sectors in attendance.
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