The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) yesterday disclosed that entrepreneurship is one of the areas it would like to partner Hensard University in Bayelsa State.
The manager in the commission’s directorate of education, health and social services, Mr. Ogaga Akakabota, made the disclosure when he led an NDDC team to Hensard on an assessment tour of the progress of work on both the temporary and permanent sites of the university.
He commended the first private university in the state for its broad vision of raising entrepreneurs through its academic programmes that are based practical skills, theoretical grounding, international exposure and lineages and ethical leadership.
Akakabota said the NDDC team was impressed by the university management’s well-thought out policies and educational facilities, adding that Hensard had the facilities to raise a generation of youths that would be independent, productive and self- sufficient.
He said; “We are here to carry out an evaluation, monitoring and assessment of the readiness of Hensard University. We got a proposal for scholarship, capacity building, grants and scholarships. So, we felt it was best for us to come see for ourselves what the school has done, its mission, vision and what it seeks to achieve in terms of educational development in the Niger Delta.
“ tour of the take-off facility, the labsAfter a, farms, and other structures, our assessment, is that the facilities at Hensard are highly commendable. We also have seen that there is a broad vision, not just about people going to school to get a certificate.
“We have seen that the school is poised towards raising entrepreneurs. This will impact very well on its graduates. A shift from graduates being job-seekers to entrepreneurs, and employers of labour will be important at this time of high unemployment.”
The Registrar of Hensard University, Mrs. Evelyn Umukoro, who conducted the tour, said the university’s vision and mission made it the type of institution the leadership of the NDDC would like to have partnership with to achieve the commission’s mandate.
