The regular students of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) were about rounding off their first semester examination to leave the stage for their colleagues in part-time classes, which is known on the campus as Centre for Educational Services (CES).
All measures had been put in place to start the Computer-Based Test (CBT) for the CES students last Monday but the exercise was not to be. Students trooped to the campus for their examination without unaware of what the day held for them.
The day began on a sunny note and final year students of the Faculty of Management Science converged on Pavilions 2 and 3 to write their papers. They waited endlessly for the arrival of question papers and answer booklets.
At 2:45pm, the atmosphere changed. The sun disappeared, casting a dark cloud over the sky. It was about to rain. Thunder struck, leaving cracking sounds on its trail. Some students, who were reading under a tree beside the Pavilions, scampered for safety.
Shortly there was a downpour. The rain was accompanied by thunderstorm. The wares of traders near the Department of Genetic and Biotechnology and the New Science Lecture Theatre 5 (NSLT 5) were scattered by the accompanying whirlwind.
Also, the whirlwind smashed the louvres of offices between the Physics and Chemistry departments.
Students who had converged to write their examination were drenched.
The downpour, which lasted for 40 minutes, flooded the campus, causing a traffic gridlock on the two-lane road. The campus drainage was blocked, making water to overflow the road. For hours, heavy traffic paralysed activities on the campus.
It was a field day for commercial cab operators who hiked fares.
Motorists drove against the traffic as they attempted to avoid the flooded stretch, aggravating the traffic snarl on the dual carriageway. The university security officers battled to restore sanity on the road.
When CAMPUSLIFE visited the campus, refuse littered some lecture rooms. Our correspondents gathered that a collision of two electric cables triggered a spark that shattered louvres and doors in the Genetics and Biotechnology department. Students, who took cover in the building, dashed for the exit as smoke billowed from the cables.
Lecture halls, students’ cafeteria and the bar joints behind the main library were affected by the flood.
Also, the road connecting Medical College to NSLT 5 was flooded, trapping students who wrote their exams in the lecture theatre for hours.
What could have been a tragedy was averted when a female student, who got stuck in a drainage, was rescued from drowning by male students. The victim, however, lost her handbag and phone to the flood.
The incident forced the management to cancel the examinations of final year Accounting and Banking and Finance students, which were scheduled for the evening of the day. CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the halls where the exams were to take place were flooded.
Speaking to our correspondents, a 500-Level Banking and Finance student, who pleaded anonymity, said:
“Our exam has been paralysed by the flood. Now, it has been postponed till further notice and only God knows when another date will be fixed. I pray the date does not crash with my carry over papers.”
He said the poor drainage system at the front of the Pavilions 2 and 3 caused the flood water to overrun the lecture theatre. He urged the management to construct a proper drainage system to prevent loss of lives.
Another student blamed the incident on what he calls the inefficiency of the waste management unit of the university, saying the flood may have been caused by blockaged drainage.
“From the look of things, you will find out that when such downpour occurs, the debris is washed down to the drainage, thereby blocking the free flow of water. How can they provide one refuse bin in the male hostel for such large population of students? This is the reason why students dump refuse indiscriminately on the ground,” he said.
CAMPUSLIFE gathered that it was not the first time the university would experience flooding. The Dean of Students’ Affairs, Prof Eyong Eyong, could not be reached for comment because of network hitches caused by the bad weather. Also, the Students’ Union president, Bassey Eka, could not be reached at the time of this report.
