The expedited efforts by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) to designate willing universities as Special Economic Zones have received praise from the federal government.
The effort, according to Mr. Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, would quickly change the educational landscape of the nation to reflect global trends and competitiveness.
Speaking to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Prof. Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of NEPZA, Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, and the former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN), Adebayo noted that the country’s industrialization process could become much more extensive and all-encompassing when the nation is able to coordinate.
In a declaration by the Head, Corporate communications, NEPZA, Dr Martin Odeh, the VC explained that the university was endowed with a number of solid minerals at commercial quantities, adding that opening the campus space for external investment using the free zone concept would be a landmark achievement.