The Nation Newspaper

Tag: abandoned

  • Abandoned varsities

    Abandoned varsities

    IT is disheartening to learn that some 701 projects have been abandoned in Nigeria’s federally-owned public universities. Comprising mainly student hostels, the projects span the length and breadth of the country, and include many which have been left to rot for nearl y two decades.

    These shocking revelations were contained in the report of the Federal Government Committee on Needs Assessment of Nigerian Public Universities. The committee comprised several teams made up of experienced university teachers and civil servants tasked with assessing the state of facilities in federal tertiary institutions. In order to do this effectively, the teams conducted extended tours of the universities to which they were assigned and interacted with administrators, lecturers, students and other stakeholders.

    Their report makes grim reading. It paints an overall picture of a near-dysfunctional infrastructure: a widespread lack of adequate facilities, the absence of accommodation for staff and students, and a troubling nonchalance towards resolving pressing infrastructural problems. In places like the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, the abandonment of projects appears to be the norm, as they have the highest percentage of such projects. The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) also has a dishonourable mention; it has apparently abandoned all of its projects in public universities located in the Niger Delta region.

    The consequences are all-too predictable, as many of these abandoned projects have aggravated the multiple crises currently confronting the country’s tertiary education system. Universities that are unable to build enough hostels for their students will not be able to properly oversee their activities, with the result that cultism, crime and other unwholesome activities have become the norm rather than the exception. The inadequacy of classroom and laboratory facilities has adversely affected the quality of education that students receive, thereby hampering manpower development.

    The abandonment of projects in federal universities is attributable to a variety of causes. They include poor planning, bureaucratic bottlenecks, inefficient project supervision and corruption. The Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) is particularly culpable. In spite of its regularly-scheduled accreditation exercises, it is amazing that the incidence of so many abandoned projects never seems to have any effect on whether the programmes of particular universities are accredited or not. It is inconceivable that any tertiary institution would defy NUC’s directive to finish the construction of projects deemed essential to its wellbeing.

    The universities themselves also have questions to answer. How could vital infrastructure projects be abandoned for up to 15 years? Those projects which involve the construction of hostels, for instance, are important to the safety, health and comfort of students, and should never have been abandoned. Denied on-campus accommodation, students are forced to fend for themselves in host communities, often leading to tragic consequences, as was recently seen in Aluu in Rivers State.

    At a more fundamental level, the routine abandonment of projects contradicts the laudable objectives of tertiary education, namely the betterment of society. If effective infrastructural development is absent on the campuses, what moral right do university teachers have to argue for their presence in the larger society?

    Now that the problems have been identified, concrete steps should be taken to resolve them. An action plan must be developed by the Federal Ministry of Education in conjunction with the NUC and the universities concerned. The most important projects should be identified and a timeline drawn up for their completion. Thorough investigations should be carried out to find out why they were abandoned in the first place, and anyone found culpable should be prosecuted without delay.

    If Nigeria wants its universities to rub shoulders with the world’s top-rated tertiary institutions, it should ensure that they possess the facilities that enhance high-quality teaching, research and community service.

  • Boko Haram: Federal Govt has abandoned us —Borno State Govt

    Boko Haram: Federal Govt has abandoned us —Borno State Govt

    The Borno State government has accused the federal government of abandoning it in the face of the security challenges it is facing as a result of the activities of Boko Haram in the state.

    The Commissioner for Information, Mr Inuwa Bwala who disclosed this to The Nation in an interview in Abuja at the weekend said no federal political office holder had visited the state to either assess the situation or empathise with the state government and its people.

    According to him, “There has been no visit from the federal side to Borno State. The President and his Vice have refused to come, share in our plight, if at all. They have not given us moral boost or if at all to show that they care and that we are part and parcel of Nigeria. We had been left on our own. For some time, nobody has shown that they really care, nobody has visited to show solidarity with us.”

    Bwala, who disclosed that the highest federal government team to the states were made up of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Chief of Defence Staff, lamented that the federal government is not treating the state as part of the federation.

    “I am not just saying it. That is the fact. We have been left on our own. We have been left to our plight as if we are not part of Nigeria. That has been our grouse against the federal government,” he said.

    The Information Commissioner disclosed that members of the ruling party in the state have been the victims of attacks since the security challenges started. “I have said it time and time again that criminals and political assassins have penetrated Boko Haram. They started with their grievances but somehow along the line, they have been hijacked by opportunists. That is why the greatest number of people that have been killed today are from the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). If not, I don’t see how people from the other political parties are roaming the streets but we in ANPP are being compelled to take cover.”

    Bwala said contrary to the impression being created that Borno State is not working, the state, he said, is moving on. “The markets are open, banks are open, work is going on, normal activities are going on, flights come into Maiduguri and leave fully booked everyday. It is just that some of the people spreading things about Borno do not know what is happening there. They don’t live there. They only peddle what they imagine is happening. Life is going on in Maiduguri. Government is working, people go to work. The situation in Maiduguri is not different from the situation in any other place where this crisis had happened and we are on top of it,” he said.

    To buttress his claim that the state is working, Bwala said, “You may have heard of the agriculture revolution which we started. We have vast underground water, we have vast arable land, we have a willing population. Because of this, the government said that agriculture, which is the mainstay of our economy, shall be the fulcrum of our agenda. That is why we are importing farm implements. As it is, we have imported over one thousand tractors which we have distributed across the state. We have brought in seedlings. Over 50 million varieties of crops. We are exploring the possibilities of modern poultry, modern cattle rearing, and other agricultural activities. Fish farming has been the tradition of our people along the Lake Chad shores, it is still going on. Government has mapped out strategies of encouraging them by giving out loans and buying what they have as surpluses to sell to Nigerians.”

    He advised both indigenes and settlers in the state that fled as a result of security challenges, to return as government is on top of the security situation.

    The Information commissioner disclosed that the leaders of thought, opinion leaders and Borno State government are working round the clock to engage the boys and shift their minds from crimes and criminal activities.

    Bwala said beyond the issue of religion, it has been discovered that some political elements are using Boko Haram to settle personal scores.

  • 1,000 flood victims ‘abandoned’ in Anambra community

    About 1,000 flood victims from Awba Ofemmili in Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State have allegedly been abandoned.

    The regent of Awba Ofemmili, Chief Anelo Nwanelo, said there is need to avert epidemics and hunger in the victims’ camps.

    According to the monarch, people from Ege, Nkpuocha, Akpana/Oye Agu, Igbobigi and waterside villages will contract diseases, if the government and emergency relief agencies do not come to their aid.

    Awba Ofemmili has a boundary with Aguleri-Otu in Anambra East.

    Chief Nwanelo said the people may be relocated further to Ugbenu, going by the volume of water in the area.

    She called for government intervention and assessment.

    The monarch thanked Awka North Local Government Chairman, Joy Enweluzor, for the materials her council donated to the victims.

    The Zonal Director of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Dr Bamidele Onimode, said though the Awba Ofemmili camp might have many victims, there was no provision for them.

    He said provision was for seven other camps in the state.

    The agency chief, however, assured that his men would visit the Awba Ofemmili camp to assess the situation.

    The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) leadership in Anambra State, led by Chief Mike Kwentoh, visited the camps and donated materials worth millions of naira.

    It was, however, learnt that the Awka North camp was not budgeted for. Kwentoh said the visit was the party’s way of showing love to the displaced persons.

    He urged them to remain calm, assuring that the APGA administration under Governor Peter Obi would not abandon them.

    The chairman of Aguata Local Government Area, Chief Titus Anigbogu, has been appointed the chairman of the relief committee on flooded communities.