A social activist and president of the Niger Delta Youth Council, Comrade Bene Youkore Mamamu, on Wednesday dispatched an open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, seeking the establishment of a Federal Polytechnic in Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State.

In the open letter, personally signed by Mamamu, copies of which were made available to journalists in Warri, Delta State, on Wednesday, the youth leader stated that “the establishment of such a tertiary institution in the Delta State community would boost technology as well as skills and vocational education among youths in the area, and in effect create more opportunities in the country.”

Lamenting that “the headquarters of Warri South-West Local Government Area, which is one of the highest oil and gas producing areas in Delta State, is starved and completely abandoned in the area of tertiary education,” Mamamu noted that technical and vocational education is key to human capacity and capital development.

He submitted that “establishing a higher institution in Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri kingdom, will give more sense of belonging to the riverine dwellers in the heart of Niger Delta.”

The open letter partly reads, “I highly commend your support for education generally in the country.

“Your approval of N683.4 billion as the 2024 intervention funds for public tertiary education institutions in the country is a clear attestation and proof of your administration’s commitment to ensure continuity in governance and policy consistency, most prominently in education.

“I also commend your administrative sagacity that is occasioning the prioritization of skills, technology, and vocational education. This will, no doubt, create more opportunities in the country.

“Mr. President Sir, I stand in the gap between your good office and the people of Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State and appeal for the establishment of federal tertiary educational institution in Ogbe-Ijoh, the headquarters of Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State.

“It is disappointing and unfortunate that the headquarters of Warri South-West Local Government Area, one of the highest oil and gas producing areas in Delta State is suffering, starved and completely abandoned in the area of tertiary education.

“I consider it important to appeal to Your Excellency, President Tinubu, GCFR, and the nation’s National Assembly to consider establishing a higher institution of learning, a Federal Polytechnic, in Ogbe-Ijoh, an Ijaw community accessible by every means of transportation in Delta State.

“Establishing a higher institution in Ogbe-Ijoh, Warri kingdom, will give more sense of belonging to the riverine dwellers in the heart of Niger Delta.

“Technical and vocational education is key to human capacity and capital development.” (Punch)