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EAST AKYEM :New agric university in the offing

A new agricultural and environmental university at Bonsu in the Eastern Region, conceived by the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, has been commissioned to commemorate his 10 years of ascension to the Abuakwa State stool.

Date Created : 11/17/2009 4:31:05 AM : Story Author : GhanaDistrict.Com

A new agricultural and environmental university at Bonsu in the Eastern Region, conceived by the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, has been commissioned to commemorate his 10 years of ascension to the Abuakwa State stool.

The University College of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, (UCAES) which is going to be affiliated to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), is the first of its kind in the country and the first to be established by a traditional ruler.

At a colorful ceremony to commission the college, the Okyenhene said he was motivated by his predecessors, who saw education as key to accelerated development, to establish the university after his predecessors established at the Abuakwa Stake College at Kyebi and contributed to the establishment of Achimota College.

According to him, chiefs must see themselves as partners in development with major stakeholders like the government and the private sector.

He said Ghana is fortunately blessed with bountiful natural resources, but those natural resources themselves cannot translate into development, adding it will take the committed development of human resources to transform the natural resources for the good of the country.

“Education is very vital tool to fight poverty and it must not be the preserve of the rich,” he said, adding that education must be made very affordable and accessible to all sections of the society.He entreated traditional leaders to effectively partner the government in fighting poverty.

The inauguration of the university college, which will start admitting fresh students next academic year, was witnessed by a large number of chiefs including Ga Mantse, King Tackie Tawiah as well as government officials and the 2008 flag bearer of the opposition New Patriotic party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, a son of Abuakwa.

The rector of the university college, Professor Kwame Serbeh-Yiadom, in his speech, said the academic philosophy of the college is to chart a path never before taken by any higher institution in this country and place the global electronic reference library in the immediate reach of each student, by funding a plan to have a laptop from day one.

“The world of information technology is to become second nature to every student of UCAES,” he said. According to him, the college deems it essential to receive much tutelage from the matured world or academia by associating with older reputed institutions that have well-established facilities and that apart from KNUST, vital links are being forged with notable institutions in the UK and the USA as well as the Netherlands.

AMA