Kehinde Fajobi
President Bola Tinubu has signed a bill establishing the North Central Development Commission into law, aiming to boost economic growth and infrastructure in the region.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the development on Tuesday during a Senate session.
He also revealed that Tinubu had approved bills for a federal polytechnic in Rano, Kano State, and a federal university of health sciences in Tsafe, Zamfara State.
Akpabio did not specify when Tinubu signed the bills, but his announcement came a day after the president assented to a bill establishing a federal university of environmental technology in Ogoni, Rivers State.
At the signing ceremony on Monday, Tinubu emphasised the importance of the Ogoni institution in addressing environmental issues and expanding educational opportunities in the Niger Delta.
“For decades, the Ogoni people have been at the forefront of the fight for environmental restoration and sustainable development, shaping both national and global conversations on these critical issues,” he said.
The Ogoni people have long protested environmental degradation caused by oil exploration, particularly by multinational corporations.
“In the early 1990s, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), led by activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, drew international attention to the environmental destruction in Ogoniland, sparking protests and conflicts with the Nigerian government.