The Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Prince Suraj Adekunbi Ishola, has assured that a bill to upgrade the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic to a university of technology would be passed into law by the legislature before the end of January 2017.
Ishola disclosed this at the 2nd International Conference on Environmental Studies organised by the School of Environmental Studies, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, with the theme, “Sustainability of Land, Shelter, Urban Development and Management in Developing Countries.”
The Speaker explained that for the bill to be passed into law, the House would first have to deliberate on it and forward to the Executive a clean copy that would be signed into law by Governor Ibikunle Amosun.
He further said that after the bill had been passed by the legislature and assented to by Governor Amosun, the institution would be given the approval to embark on full research.
Ishola said, “The governor has deemed it fit to put up such a bill and presented it to the House for deliberations and subsequent passage.
“When we resume, I can assure you that we are going to give that bill accelerated passage and I want to promise you that before the end of this month, we will present a clean copy of the bill to the governor for his assent.”
On the conference, the speaker noted that the event would create a platform for Nigeria and other developing countries to become aware of their environment.
He, therefore, said that it was necessary for members of the public to be adequately informed about such conferences, saying that stakeholders had a crucial role to play in environmental development. Speaking on the occasion, the Dean, School of Environmental Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Prof. Julius Olujimi, lauded the institution for organising the event.
Olujimi said that sustainable urban management and development was a phenomenon already established in developing countries of the world. The dean said that the problems of land, shelter, urban management and development were the causes of socio-economic, cultural and environmental challenges, hindering the attainment of sustainable development and effective urban governance.
He said, “It is essential for government in all spheres to ensure easy accessibility to land for all and sundry. “Land laws need to be flexible, agricultural friendly and embrace all aspects of housing and construction activities, which will provide framework and structural development of the city.”
The Director, School of Environmental Studies, MAPOLY, Koyejo Jolaosho, stressed that the purpose of the conference was to bring together researchers and stakeholders to create a sustainable human environment.
