The repainted SUB block Photos: Ebenezer Adurokiya
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the near 30-year-old institution, Mr Sam Oyeleye, in his interaction with Saturday Tribune suggested that another visit by Environment Watch to the institution would reveal a different impression, far better and more realistic than what was previously reported.
According to him, the December publication did not give an accurate situation of the campus, saying that before the publication, efforts had been made to put some of the itemised crumbling facilities in the right order.
“That report came out after things have been addressed. It was belated and never reflected the true state of things as of the time the publication was made,” Oyeleye asserted.
As a result, EW made another fact-finding mission to the campus last week Wednesday. At the mini campus, which harbours science courses which EW described as unbefitting of a university of such clout, noise of generating sets has reduced, perhaps owing to the absence of students from campus partly due to the industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that was called off on Thursday.
The Students Union Building has been garbed with blue and white emulsion paints. The new look seems better than it was, as of the last visit.
The offices belonging to the students in the SUB building now wear a new look. In fact, from the entrance, keys were fixed on the new plywood doors used to demarcate the offices. On each of the door is inscribed “OOU/SUG, Obama-led Regime, 2010/2011,” perhaps revealing a partnership between the students union and the authorities of the institution which executed the project.
The interior of each of the offices that were not locked during the visit revealed the covering of the hitherto bare floor with brown rubber carpet, plywood desks and new sofas, one for each office and new flowing window blinds which actually make the rooms cosy for habitation and academic exercise.
Similar improvement was noticed at the lecture hall beside the SUB. Both exterior and the interior walls of the hall have been retouched with butter-colour paint. The hall was deserted and the desks dusty for obvious reasons. Few louvres are left on the windows while it is presumed that those missing must have gone with youthful exuberance of students.
EW accosted two naive-looking students who walked into the hall to take some look. The duo said they were on the campus to have a first-hand information about the school. They are intending students who have been admitted to the Departments of Computer Science and Geography and Regional Planning. One of them, who said he was from Kano, but lives in Lagos, said he was not too happy with the N30,000 he paid as Acceptance Fee.
“The money is too much. If I paid N30,000 for only acceptance of admission, how much will go for tuition and others?” he quipped.
Structure wise, the one that was admitted to study GRP simply said, “It’s ok. It should be probably conducive for learning. But they should replace these broken louvres. They should make the place better than it is now because many of my colleagues, who should be here to accept their admission, have opted for other schools or preparing to rewrite another JAMB because they said they did not like this school.”
Defying the scorching sun, EW trudged to the main campus. On observation, the potholes at the main entrance road had been given some attention.
Motion Ground, where the Kegites Club shrine lay desolate and the array of new generation banks still standing battered and in coma, remains reddish. Campus-plying cabs were parked there.
“Absence of students on campus has made business drab and bad for us,” one of the drivers yawningly said.
The banks, namely, Intercontinental, Skye, GTB, Equitorial Trust, Mainsteam, Zenith, UBA, among others, have been disallowed from operating since the last year armed robbery incident that claimed a life, properties and money.
“The banks have been asked to halt their activities till further notice. We need to ensure absolute security before we can allow them to operate here again. As you can see, the issues of shanties and blaring music at the Motion Ground that you talked about in your report have been addressed.
“The shanty-like shops and Kegites grove have to leave the environment because we have a better plan for that place,” the image-maker of the institution, Mr Oyeleye, stated.
Of a truth, there are on-going projects at the main campus which stakeholders are required to step in to accelerate through better funding.
Some roads have been abandoned after constuction of the bridges. The ongoing road project linking the administrative block, Otunba Gbenga Daniel Hall and the Faculty of Education (where tiling work is ongoing) should be quickly tarred, especially during this dry season.
The banks, if they must return to service the community, should be encouraged to go beyond ensuring solid security, but also tar their roads and make their immediate environment more business-friendly.
The school authorities, on their part, should also be well-monitored to ensure prudent spending of the inflated fees, which students, especially the fresh ones, are made to cough up.
The money should have a direct bearing on the environment by way of improving the facilities in the main campus in order to make the future leaders more productive.
AS CULLED FROM THE TRIBUNE: http://www.tribune.com.ng/sat/index.php/environment-watch/6525-oou-campuses-a-progress-report.html
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