‘Imo Needs 20 Universities’, Says Governor Okorocha

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has revealed that the state needs not less than 20 universities to take care of the increasing population of qualified applicants of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) from the state who are yearly denied admissions because of certain unfavourable polices like catchment areas and limited admission spaces.

The governor said this when the Founder of the LORDS CHOSEN Church, Pastor Lazarus Muoka visited him on courtesy call at the Government House, with other leaders of the church on Friday, March 23, 2018, to inform the governor that his Church has come to establish a World-Class University in the state.

Okorocha, who accented to a request for land from the visitors, also instructed that land should be allocated to the church immediately for that purpose.

He also gave the church N10m to enable them clear the site of the intended university, with the governor stating that for the seventh time, the state has continued to lead in JAMB applications with wide margin.

According to him, in 2018, the state topped the JAMB application chart with 92,980 applications and added that out of this number, it would be surprising to see more than 5,000 applicants having admissions into the universities because of certain policies and grossly limited slots.

The governor noted that education was the biggest industry in the state and assured Muoka that the state would support the church to ensure that the university is started and finished for academic activities to begin.