Senator Hope Uzodinma, representing Orlu Senatorial District, was last Tuesday April 22, 2014, commended for his remarkable achievements in both National and Community development projects and especially for his support for the growth of the Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwu.
The commendation was the culmination of the commissioning ceremony of the Advanced Digital Access Programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI) in Nigeria by the Vice-Chairman of the National Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah whose controversial emergence in 2010 cost Senator Sylvester Anyanwu his senate committee chairmanship on communication.
Dr. Juwah, who was ably represented at the occasion of the commissioning ceremony by the commissioner representing South East geo political zone on the board of NCC, Dr. Onyia, had in his address explained that the installation of the Advanced Digital Awareness Access Programme at Umuagwu was dedicated to enable students and lecturers of tertiary institutions to acquire more skills, proficiency and knowledge in ICT.
ADAPTI, according to Dr. Eugene Juwah, is one of the programmes through which the NCC hopes to bridge the digital divide and gap existing in the academic with the provision of computers and other ICT facilities. This he said is in realization of the NCC commitment and policy of installing state-of-the-art e-learning suites for the academics and that already more than 297 institutions in Nigeria have benefitted since it was introduced in 2008. The e-learning suites according to him, involve the introduction of the wireless cloud, a complimentary package comprising laptops with wireless internet facilities. “The need for our lecturers and administrators to be computer literate and internet savvy is desirable”, he said.
He then disclosed that this project was initiated in 2003 under President Olusegun Obasanjo who set aside the “Universal Access Provision Fund (UAPF) through the NCC Act 2003 to comprehensively capture the School Access Programme (SAP) for both the secondary schools and the Tertiary Institutions Access Programme (TIAP).
Dr. Juwa then charged the benefitting institutions to be mindful of the critical roles of preserving the facilities while putting them to optimal use in order to achieve the desired objectives while sustaining the programme for other generations.
In his welcome address, the Rector of Imo State Polytechnic, Rev. Fr. Dr. Wence Madu, thanked the Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, Dr. Juwa, and his management for considering his polytechnic worthy to benefit from the noble project of 400 pieces of laptops, provision of VSAT, Wifi, and cloud infrastructure that now make it easy for the state owned institution to access and use internet services on campus.
He then praised Senator Hope Uzodimma for recommending and influencing the execution of the project by NCC and charged other political office holders especially in Imo State to emulate the resourcefulness represented by Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma.
Dr. Madu disclosed that his emergence as Rector of the state owned polytechnic has resulted to the campus ICT facility moving from a green field site to becoming one of the most technologically advanced polytechnics in Nigeria having developed a robust and scalable-campus-area-network, a state of-the-art Wifi infrastructure covering most of the campus sites, an ICT centre equipped with 180 networked systems for JAMB computer based test and upgraded the internet connectivity bandwidth to 6MB.
Senator Hope Uzodimma in his goodwill message boasted that he has secured the approval of NDDC to complete the perimeter fencing of the polytechnic and its internal roads network.
He commended President Goodluck Jonathan for appointing the new Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah. He noted that the team spirit which the New Executive Vice Chairman has injected in the NCC has helped the organization to move the nation forward. The senator observed that the commission has been in existence for a long time, but lacked the capacity to drive its projects.
He also gave kudos to the Rector of the Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, Rev. Fr. Dr. Wence Madu for his doggedness in moving the polytechnic forward and promised to support the efforts of the rector and his management team.
Senator Uzodinma further disclosed that the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has approved the perimeter fencing of the school and the construction of internal link roads on the campus.
He gave the assurance that the construction of hostels will be addressed after the fencing to ensure that lives and properties are adequately protected. Senator Uzodimma also promised to sustain and maintain the infrastructures in Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo.
Present at the occasion were Hon. Jerry Alagbaso who commended Chief Hope Uzodimma for discharging his senatorial duties conscientiously, Chairman of the Polytechnic Governing Council, Prof. Victor and top functionaries of the Imo State Polytechnic and the NCC.
Courtesy: Community WatchDog Newspaper
