Piqued by the lingering delay over commencement of administrative and academic activities in the Federal Gas Polytechnic, Bonny brought about by what has been described as bureaucratic bottleneck and perhaps federal politics youths of the Bonny Kingdom are demanding that the federal government must urgently commence administrative and academic activities for it to achieve set objective.
Speaking at a press conference in Port Harcourt, the leader of Bonny Youth Federation, Gift Furo Hart lamented that years after, the upgrade of the institution from National Technical Institute of Petroleum and Gas to Federal Gas Polytechnic the institution is yet to take off fully as expected. He said as a responsible leadership, the Bonny Youths federation realizes that development delayed is development denied, hence is poised to ensure that priority is given to the urgent commencement of activities allowing things to be placed in their right perspective.
In a four page statement it reads;
“The Federal Gas Polytechnic, Bonny formerly known as the National Technical Institute for Petroleum and Gas, Bonny was conceived by the Rivers State Government in the year 2000 to serve as a feeder institution to the Liquefied National Gas Project in terms of manpower training and development. The foundation stone of the project was therefore laid to coincide with the opening ceremony of the Liquefied Natural Gas Project with the intention that trainees of the Institute will feed the manpower requirement of the newly built LNG project.
The Institution was handed over to Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to complete in 2006 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo who said the institute is part of government plan to develop the Niger Delta youths. The decision attracted rave reviews and rousing applause from home and abroad. It left a semblance of a country poised to put a round peg in a round hole taking into account the strategic role of the area in the oil and gas sector of the country.
Similarly, the Federal Government under the Jonathan administration went further to upgrade the National Technical Institute into a full fledged Federal Gas Polytechnic that will specialize in Gas Technologies, alternative energy technologies, and Environmental Sciences by directing that the National Board of technical Education, NBTE and Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to put modalities on ground to ensure the smooth take off of the institution.
We were encouraged because the importance of an institution of this nature with a corresponding industry cannot be misplaced. Bonny is an oil and gas hub in the region. Hence, the Polytechnic was expected to churn out the much-needed middle manpower in the oil and gas industry, considering that. it will not only be training Bonny people, but will also be training pipeline communities people from the Niger Delta and of course students cutting across the length and breadth of the whole country.
Disappointingly, years after, the upgrade the Polytechnic is yet to take off fully as expected, and this basically forms the reasons for our meeting here today. The Bonny Youth federation is piloted by a responsible leadership, which equally realizes that development delayed is development denied hence is poised to ensure that things are placed in their right perspective.
This has become necessary, as we are yet to come to terms with reason for the lingering commencement of the Federal Gas Polytechnic, Bonny. We know a mandate has been giving out to the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to look at what are the requirements and harmonize for the eventual take off, however that objective has continued to hit a brick wall.
We as Bonny youths are the once directly affected by this inaction because the earlier it commences the better for us. That is why to contribute our quota in ensuring that the various issue of decision making and bureaucratic bottleneck militating against the commencement are nipped in the bud, we are demanding that;
1) PTDF should be persuaded to hand over the custodianship of the completed facilities to either the Bonny kingdom development committee (BKDC) or to a Federal Government empanelled Governing council to oversee the day to day facilities, security maintenance of the structures in the institution as well as general liaison with extraneous governmental, community and third parties agencies, with a view to fast tracking the development of the polytechnic, the recruitment of appropriate staff members and other aspects of the institution’s development.
2) We believe this has become imperative because a similar Polytechnic being developed by the PTDF in Ekowe, Bayelsa state on getting such a governing council, was helped by the council in no small measure, in sorting out most of the teething infrastructural, administrative, community, academic and other related problems besetting that institution. Today, the Federal Polytechnic at Ekowe in Bayelsa state which was initiated about the same time, by the PTDF with its counterpart in Bonny LGA, is completed and fully functional.
3) For emphasis, the issue of appointing and inaugurating a Governing Council for the Federal Gas Polytechnic the, Bonny can no longer be delayed in our national interest, if those lofty ideals conceived by the founding fathers, which inspired Federal Government’s approval for the establishment of the institution are to be realized.
4) We demand full administrative and academic work to commence if the federal government is sincere about this project.
5) We also request that the Minister of Education should interface with her counterpart in the Petroleum Ministry to harmonize whatever processes remaining to fast track the commencement of the Polytechnic and its desired objective”.
The Bonny youths in view of this are demanding that government and its relevant agencies reposed with the mandate of making the Polytechnic dream a reality must give full attention to the smooth take off of administrative and academic work in the Bonny Polytechnic.
According to the statement, youths are not only the future of Nigeria, but also a major stakeholder and useful resource in nation building. For the youths to become useful resource in the Nigerian project; they must be trained and made useful beneficiaries of endeavors sited in their communities; hence they stress that Government should make effective the Federal Gas Polytechnic for youths to attain their full potentials.
It further stated that the bonny youths have watched with burning heart, how the federal government play politics and treat with levity everything that is meant to benefit Bonny community and its people.
Hear the youth leader: “There are so many unfulfilled promises; the construction and completion of the Bonny /Bodo road which was promised to Bonny people by the past Federal administration (since Gowon’s administration), the botched Federal Gas Polytechnic are just one among many unfulfilled promises in spite of the sacrifice and pain we had to go through as a people due to pollution of our air and waterways”.
The Bonny youth federation alo appealed to Niger Delta sons in authority like the President and Commander in- Chief of the Armed of Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and his proactive Minister of State for Education, Chief Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike to come to their rescue and help address this important issue with a view to achieving set objective, adding that the Minister should visit the site to facilitate commencement of the school.
