Abuja — Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has said it would continue to increase a chunk of its budgetary allocation to the educational sector to ensure qualitative education is given to the children in Abuja.

FCT Minister, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar stated this while inspecting facilities at the African Institute of Science and Technology otherwise known as Nelson Mandela University Monday in Abuja.

He said that no nation can afford to toy with its educational sub-sector because education is the bedrock of any meaningful development.

"I am excited by the siting of the Nelson Mandela University of Science and Technology in Abuja because it will help us realize the dream of carving a niche for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja", he added.

The Minister who lauded the contributions of the African Development Bank to the development of the Institute promised to support the initiative.

Modibbo said he was looking forward towards the graduation of the first set of students of the university who would contribute to the development of African economy.

Receiving the FCT Minister, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nelson Mandela Institute, Dr. Karl Voltaire said that it is a Pan-African Initiative with Nigeria in the fore-front.

He lamented that science and technology development had in the past not been given the required attention in Africa and noted that this new arrangement will surely assist in redressing the gap and put the continent in the right track.

The FCT Minister was accompanied on the inspection by the Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Engineer Muhammed Sani Alhassan.