Federal University of Technology Owerri, has been selected with other 5 institutions in the Country to pilot the National Universities Commission (NUC) Sustainable Procurement Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) Project for the production of experts in procurement, environmental and social standard.
Speaking on the selection process, NUC's executive secretary, Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, on Monday, October 25, disclosed that the schools were chosen through a very objective, competitive and rigorous method.
He said that "The universities were chosen through a rigorous selection process". Professor Rasheed commended the management of the selected universities for their efforts in developing the winning proposals and encouraged them to keep assisting the centres for their benefit, that of the Nigerian University system and the country.
On his part, Joshua Atah, SPESSE's Project Coordinato,r who doubles as the head of project implementation unit of NUC, said that the scheme will be implemented by the commission's Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, The Ministry of Environment and also Women Affairs and Social Development.
The six universities Selected are:
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU)
Ahmadu Bello University (ABU)
Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (FUAM)
Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO)
University of Benin (UNIBEN)
University of Lagos (UNILAG)
Speaking also, Chief Bayo Awosemusi, the project task team leader at the World Bank, expressed optimism that through SPESSE, the first of its kind for the international body and Nigeria, the country will be the hub for Africa and it would take the selected universities to bring this dream to fruition.
