The National Universities Commission has presented the operating certificate for the Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University, Ogboko, to the Imo State Government.

The Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, presented the certificate to Governor Hope Uzodinma, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Adamu said with this, the tussle between former Governor Rochas Okorocha and the state government over the ownership of the university had come to an end.

“By a copy of this letter, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, and the National Youth Service Corps are being notified of this development,’’ he said

Uzodinma had seized the university which was previously known as the Eastern Palm University, Ogboko, from Okorocha and renamed it Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwa University, Ogboko.

The executive secretary congratulated Uzodimma and assured him of the commission’s readiness to assist the state in its educational strides.

Adamu also commended the governor for his vision to expand access to university education in Imo and by extension, the South East region of the country.

Responding, Uzodinma commended the NUC for ensuring stability in the country’s university system.

The governor said that the resolve to establish a state university was informed by the level of youth restiveness in the South-East.

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“Imo is highly populated, we have a population of over five million and our youth population is very huge and it is also part of what has led to restiveness in the South-East.

“Today is a very special day for me; we have come here today to receive the recognition letter from NUC for our brand new university.

“This university that is fully owned by Imo State Government has also provided us the opportunity to immortalise one of our foremost philanthropists, K.O. Mbadiwe of blessed memory,’’ he said.

The Governor added that “the need to have a full grasp of the University is anchored on the growing youth population in Imo State and level of drop-outs resulting from the inability of these youths to secure admission in the tertiary institutions.

“The need for higher institutions in Imo State became inevitable and to that end, Government has to encourage the youths by securing the second state-owned University.”

On the return of illegally acquired landed property in Imo State to the rightful owners based on the recommendations of the Committee on the Review of the White Paper on Land and Other Related Matters which the government set up for that purpose, the Governor said it is a promise his administration made which it has kept.

He further added that his administration is driven by the three cardinal points of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Recovery, noting that to achieve vision his government is busy “reconstructing the roads and recovering Government assets in addition to rehabilitating all the moribund factories/industries that were in bad state” before he assumed office.

“Put together there is no doubt that the Shared Prosperity Government is making progress to satisfy the expectations of Imo people,” he added.