Thirteen years after the establishment of Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU), no hostel has been completed to take care of the accommodation needs of the over 8,000 students on both campuses at Obio Akpa in Oruk Anam Local Government and Ikot Akpaden in Mkpat Enin Local Government.
The member representing Essien Udim State Constituency, Prince Ukpong Akpabio, who made this known yesterday at plenary in a Motion on Notice on the floor of the House of Assembly, said although AKSU, established in 2010, was the only state-owned university in Akwa Ibom State with eight faculties and 48 academic programmes with full accreditation by the National Universities Commission (NUC), and offering academic programmes up to PhD level, the institution did not have an hostel for its students 13 years after its establishment.
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Akpabio noted that in 2010, the state government awarded contract for the building of hostels in the university with a capacity to accommodate 2,600 students.
He lamented that the hostel project remained unrealized, as contractors abandoned the project midway.
He said: “Due to the absence of decent hostel accommodation, students are compelled to take up residence in lodges and houses close to the university campuses. The lodges and houses inhabited by the students are in a deplorable condition, which renders them unfit for habitation. They lack electricity, potable water and security.
“The current accommodation challenges of the students constitute one of the greatest impediments to their academic growth and performance, as every student deserves a student-friendly environment and certain basic amenities, which are unavailable in the lodges and houses currently used by the students of the university for accommodation.”
Akpabio said the situation needs to be addressed urgently, as the students face insecurity by living off campus.
He recalled the case of the late Abasi-Anyanga Maurice Edet, a 400-level Computer Science student of the university, who was dragged out of one of the local lodges at Ubong Abasi Street in Mkpat Enin Local Government and murdered in cold blood.
According Akpabio, “lack of hostel facilities on both campuses of the university is a violation of the National Universities Commission (NUC) regulation, which requires universities to accommodate at least 30 per cent of their students’ population in campus hostels. The absence of hostel facilities at AKSU constitutes a collective embarrassment for Akwa Ibom State.”
He said the completion of the abandoned hostel projects would complement the ARISE agenda of Governor Umo Eno, which embraces educational advancement by ensuring that AKSU becomes equipped with ultra-modern hostel facilities, as is the case in other state-owned universities across the country.