The Cross River State House of Assembly has passed a bill for a law to establish the University of Cross River [UNICROSS].

The passage of the bill followed the presentation of the report of the House Committee on Education by its Chairman, RT Hon. Itam Abang.

The bill sponsored by the member representing Ogoja State Constituency and Leader of the House, Rt Hon. Peter Odey, according to the report, seeks to repeal law No. 6 of (2004) which established Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) to change the nomenclature of the University from CRUTECH to UNICROSS.

Abang stated that “the law which established CRUTECH known as Law No. 6 of 2004 was passed by the State Assembly on August 5, 2004 and assented to by the then Governor, Donald Duke.”

She said the law was later amended in May 2008 and passed on September 26, 2008, after it was assented to by the then Governor, Liyel Imoke.

According to her,

“even with the amendment, CRUTECH was limited in scope in terms of programmes and courses. The name restricts the university from offering courses that are not technologically based as well as hinders the National Universities Commission from accrediting courses in other fields of academics to cater for the needs of the teeming youths seeking admission in the state.”

The majority of the members voted for the passage of the bill and agreed that there was urgent need to repeal the existing law and change the institution from a University of Technology to a conventional university to provide better access to university education for more Cross Riverians and also prevent the de-listing of non-technical courses by the NUC.

The Speaker, RT Hon. Eteng Jonah Williams thanked the committee for their efforts and also lauded members for the quick passage of the bill.