As one of his numerous parting gifts to the people, Governor Udom Emmanuel has handed over the Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre (DASAC) in Ikot Ada Idem, Ibiono Ibom Local Government to Akwa Ibom people.
Speaking during the commissioning, on Wednesday, Governor Emmanuel informed the people that the state government will be running the centre in collaboration with the University of Lagos, which would be overseeing the activities and operations of the centre.
According to him, the decision to partner with a university within the country was to ensure an understanding of the state’s environment and socio-cultural structure.
“I want to thank the University of Lagos because when we approached them on this project for their collaboration and partnership, they did not turn us down. Meeting the University of Lagos should assure you that this centre will be a centre of excellence.
“It is also a challenge on the University of Lagos because we had the opportunity of collaborating and partnering with other institutions outside Nigeria. We have some in the Philippines, some from Pakistan, but I said no, east or west, that no other institution outside Nigeria would understand our environment, our socio-cultural structure to be able to manage in order to achieve our desired result”, he explained.
Emmanuel assured the institution’s partners of state government continuous support, even when he leaves office.
He listed faculties in the centre to include; the Faculty of Agric- Business, Faculty of Steel and building technology, Faculty of Mechanical Fabrication and automobile engineering, Faculty of Power and renewable energy, Faculty of Hospitality and Lifestyle Management, Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Faculty of wood technology, Faculty of General Studies and Skills Development amongst others.
In her remarks, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of, University of Lagos Prof Ayodele Atsenuwa thanked Governor Udom Emmanuel for entrusting the responsibility to the University of Lagos, assuring that they will ensure that graduates from the centre become potential employers of labour.
Addressing the gathering, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy Comrade Ini Ememobong, who is an indigene of the area, applauded his boss’s decision to convert the institution which once served as Government Technical College to a skills acquisition centre.
The commissioner however recalled that the school was abandoned by successive governments and said the institution’s transformation to a world-class skills acquisition center will bring about incremental development to the area and state at large.
He described the revolutionary achievement as another history-making event in the completion agenda of the outgoing administration.
He extended the gratitude of Ibiono Ibom people to Governor Udom Emmanuel and the state executive cabinet.
