On Tuesday, the Delta Government announced that it had authorized the distribution of an N400 million grant to 40 mission schools in the state so they could upgrade and expand their facilities.
At a press conference to discuss some of the decisions made at the State Executive Council meeting presided over by the Deputy Governor, Mr. Kingsley Otuaro, the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, made this announcement.
At the briefing, Aniagwu, who was seated next to the governor’s chief press secretary, Mr. Olisa Ifeajika, announced that each of the 40 schools would receive N10 million.
He explained that the act was a deliberate effort by the state government to ensure that the schools did not fall behind in terms of facilities and efforts to develop human capital.
“At today’s Exco meeting, a number of decisions were taken and one of them is the approval of disbursement of N400 million grant to 40 missionary schools in the state that were previously being run by the state government before they were handed over to the missionaries.
“That translates to N10 million for each of the 40 missionary schools to enable them improve on their facilities because you do know that in the last seven years, we have taken a lot of effort and time to upgrade a number of schools that are run by the government.
“But, since the return of a number of these schools to the missionaries by the last administration, we had hope that they too, should be able to cope fully. Yes, they had done very well as they have been able to add values to these schools,” Aniagwu added.
According to him, the Old Lagos–Asaba road’s first phase, which spans 7.6 kilometers from Umunede to Obior, received approval from the state executive council as well.
The commissioner stated that the government had approved the building of male and female hostels with 240 bed spaces each at the Dennis Osadebay University in Asaba with a view to providing safe housing for the athletes in order to ensure the overall success of the 21st National Sports Festival to be hosted in the state.
He continued by saying that the council had also approved building an indoor sports complex for close-quarters competitions for the national sports festival inside Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba.
“We approved the construction of 240-bed space in Dennis Osadebe University for female and another 240 bed space hostel for male which will house the athletes coming to Asaba for the National Sports Festival.
“The reason for siting them in the university premises is that the hostels will also serve as students’ hostels after the sports festival.
“We have also approved the construction of indoor sports complex that would house other games within the Stephen Keshi’s stadium,”the commissioner said.
He claimed that the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, in the state’s Warri South West Local Government Area, received approval for the construction of an additional lecture hall.
He stated that approval had been given for the construction of drainage channels to link the Asaba storm water control project in order to drain the Core Area, Off DSS Road, Asaba.
Aniagwu claimed that six adjacent streets in Asaba had been given the go-ahead for construction in an effort to advance the state government’s urban renewal program.
The appointment of JohnHolt Ologho as the Regent of Emevor Kingdom in the state’s Isoko North Local Government Area was also approved by the government at the meeting.