A Bill for the Establishment of Federal University of Agriculture, Mpu, Enugu State, scaled Second Reading in the Senate on Tuesday.

Moving the motion for the debate on the bill,the former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, regretted that agriculture, which was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy up to the early 1970s, had suffered enormous neglect and underdevelopment characterised by inappropriate technology, subsistence farming, low and sub-standard yields over the decades.

The lawmaker, who represents Enugu West Senatorial District, argued that changing the trajectory and reinventing agriculture in an oil-driven economy as Nigeria’s required laying solid foundations and putting in place specific structures and specialised institutions such as the University of Agriculture, Mpu, for the teeming, industrious, young and up-coming Nigerians to drive agricultural renaissance.

Ekweremadu said the University, if established, would help to develop and offer academic and professional programmes leading to the award of certificates, first degree, post-graduate diploma, and higher degrees with emphasis on planning, developmental and adaptive skills, technology, applied science, commerce, arts, social sciences, and allied professional discipline in agriculture.

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“This University will also  bring quality change in agriculture by focusing on agricultural education through teaching and learning innovations and collaborate with other national and international institutions involved in training, research, and development of agriculture with a view to promoting self-sufficiency, export of agricultural products as well as leadership and management skills among managers of agriculture”, the said.

Ekweremadu invited the Senate to take a bold step towards the realisation of the much talked about diversification of the nation’s economy by supporting the Bill.

Following a unanimous approval by the Senate, the Bill was read a second time and committed to the Senate Committee on Education, Tertiary Institutions and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Tetfund) for further legislative due process.