An international Non-Governmental organization, Practical Action Consulting (PAC) which consults for a British Donor Agency (DFID), has chosen the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori as a learning Centre in Nigeria, for the study on Evidence and Lessons from Latin America (ELLA), as it relates to promoting responsible investments and best practices in oil and gas companies and other extractive industries in Nigeria.
Speaking during the formal launch of the DFID-Funded National Learning Group on ELLA in the Polytechnic, the representative of PAC in Nigeria, Mr. Kenneth Chukwuma, said that River State Polytechnic, Bori Rivers State was chosen as a centre for the study because of the location of the Polytechnic in the region of oil and gas companies and other extractive industries.
Mr. Chukuma said that the study project was research-based, and disclosed that in the next eight months, selected academic and non-academic staff of the Polytechnic in collaboration with other participants from Latin America, would be meeting in River State Polytechnic, Bori Rivers State to brainstorm and come up with ideas aimed at promoting investments and best practices in Oil and Gas related and other extractive industries in Nigeria.
The PAC representative in Nigeria outlined some benefits to be derived from the choice of the Polytechnic as a learning centre for the study project, especially the tendency of attracting international funding to the Polytechnic and thanked the Management of the Polytechnic for accepting to host the study project.
Speaking at the occasion, the Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Leyii Kwanee, who facilitated the choice of River State Polytechnic, Bori Rivers State for the study project, said that the need for institutions of higher learning to embark on research and other forms of studies that would benefit the society cannot be over-emphasized, and urged proposed participants in the ELLA study project to be painstaking and ensure that purposeful ideas and recommendations are reached at the end of the study project.
In his own speech at the occasion, the Rector of the Polytechnic, Obianko Nwolu-Elechi, thanked the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Leyii Kwanee, for attracting the study project to the Polytechnic, and promised that the Polytechnic, even in the face of limited funds, would endeavour to provide funds for research projects and fabrications in line with the laudable objectives for which the Polytechnic was established.
