The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited on Friday signed a N2 billion Memorandum of Agreement with six Nigerian universities to develop their engineering education capacity.

The Managing Director of NLNG, Babs Omotowa, said at the signing ceremony in Abuja that the MoA was for the implementation of phase one of its University Support Programme.

The MoA was signed with representatives of the University of Ilorin, University of Ibadan, University of Port Harcourt, University of Maiduguri, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Omotowa said the NLNG had in March announced its plan to develop engineering education capacity in six universities in the country.

He added that the NLNG would spend N340 million on the construction of modern engineering laboratories with cutting-edge equipment in each of the six universities.

He said: "The signing of the MoA with six universities marks the first milestone in NLNG's University Support Programme.

"The MoA spells out modalities for the execution of the Programme, ranging from financing to contracts and procurement, as well as safety, quality assurance, quality control and sustainability of laboratories."

The managing director said the implementation strategy was structured to meet the universities' technical needs and specification.

He added that comparative advantages and peculiarities of each university were considered in the strategy "and we believe this is the most efficient model of project delivery".

Omotowa said the six universities were selected based on rankings by the National Universities Commission, international bodies, as well as long standing contributions to the development of local capacity in Nigeria. Omotowa said the selection of the universities was based on their outstanding performance in engineering and technical education in each of the six geopolitical zones in the country.

The Vice-Chancellor of University of Ibadan, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who responded on behalf of others, said the VCs were committed to ensuring the success of the programme.

Adewole said the programme would help in improving the standard of the universities and put them at par with their peers.

He urged other organisations to emulate the NLNG gesture and support educational development in the country.