Statff and Students of Abia State University, Uturu will soon witness totai infrastructural rehabilitation and boom following the visit on Sunday of the Governor, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti to see things for himself.
Addressing the Students during the assessment visit, Governor Otti who was received on arrival by the Vice Chancellor , Prof Ndukwe Okudoh expressed utter shock and disappointment over the deplorable state of facilities at the University .
The Governor who inspected facilities including: the ABSU Staff Primary School, the old Law Faculty building, and the proposed site for the new 5,000 students’ capacity hostels for both male and female students could not hide his shock and utter disappointment on the deplorable state of the facilities he saw on the ground and exclaimed!, “Thank God I came; I couldn’t have believed it”.
He therefore announced to the audience that immediate action will be taken and apologized to the Students for the unfortunate state of facilities in the school.
Governor Otti stated, “I just came to see things for myself. And I thought I should take you and the University management by surprise. I’m happy to see you, but I’m very unhappy with the state of the facilities. The conditions under which you live cannot allow you to do any academic work. For those of you who do well under these conditions, we must congratulate you,” the Governor noted while acknowledging the students’ resilience and ability to excel despite the challenging conditions.
The Governor stated that while the new hostel is being constructed, the University management should find an organised way and phased approach to making the current hostels habitable.
He however gave the Vice Chancellor a matching order to build a functional cafeteria for the students, noting that it is unhygienic and risky to have cooking stoves, kerosene, and pots in the hostels.
“I don’t want to see stoves, kettles, kerosene, and those kinds of things in the rooms. I will give you about three months to build a functional cafeteria,” he directed the VC amidst claps of joy from the students.
Reminding them of the planned relocation of Faculties of Law and Agriculture back to Uturu, Governor Otti revealed that the designs for the faculties and the 5,000 students’ capacity hostel have already been completed, and work will start in the next one week”, adding that an aggressive target delivery timeline of four months have been given for the completion of these facilities, considering the urgency of the situation.
The Governor pledged to ensure that the essential amenities needed to make the academic community conducive for learning, such as power, potable water, are all provided.
He further ordered the immediate demolition of the University Staff Primary School and the erection of a new one, as well as instructed that a temporary learning facility be provided for the students while the new one is being built.
