Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to site the proposed National Agency for Science, Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) zonal institute for agricultural equipment in Lafia, the state capital.
Governor Sule made the appeal shortly after he inspected facilities at the headquarters of the agency in Abuja, led by the Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI, Prof. Sani Haruna, on Thursday.
According to the governor, Lafia is well suited to host the proposed institute because 80 percent of its population are involved in one form of agriculture or the other, as well as that the conglomeration of big scale commercial farmers in the state, such as Olam Rice, Floor Mills of Nigeria, Azman Rice Mills and Dangote Sugar plantation, makes Lafia an ideal setting for the institute.
While harping on the reasons why the NASENI zonal institute for agricultural equipment should be sited in Lafia, Governor Sule emphasised that aside of the fact that Lafia is central to all the states within the North Central geopolitical zone, Nasarawa State is also a home of agriculture.
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“I want to call on Mr. President, because he is a fair person when it comes to that, to site the zonal institute in Lafia,” the Governor stated.
Commenting on the activities of the agency, Governor Sule commended NASENI for all its inventions, adding that Nigeria got it right by dedicating one percent of the federation account to fund the agency.
The governor said his administration will collaborate with NASENI not only in the area of tertiary education but also in science and technology.
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He particularly thanked NASENI for selecting the Nasarawa State University in Keffi for its interventions through the provision of equipment for electrical and electronic, for the new faculty of engineering.
Earlier, the Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI, Prof. Sani Haruna, said he invited the governor in order to showcase the activities to the agency, with a view to identify areas of collaboration.
The NASENI EVC hinted that already, the agency, with the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari, has proposed to set up six new institutes across the six geopolitical zones of the country.