Reps Committee on oversight visits to Federal University Lokoja, decries infrastructure decay

The House of Representatives Committee on University Education has decried the infrastructure decay at the Federal University Lokoja, Kogi State.

The Chairman, House Committee on University Education, Hon Abubakar Hassan Fulata, who made this known after his committee visited the various facilities of the university, said the committee will seek for a way to address the challenges.

“There are a lot of buildings that have not been completed. The road network is really very poor. So these are very serious challenges specific to the university location.

“We are going to do our best to assist the university in overcoming the infrastructure challenge. With regards to security, we will take it up with relevant agencies and committees to really come to the aid of the university.

“The school management, teaching and non-teaching staff as well as students are perpetually in fear of bandits and kidnappers. They hardly stay beyond 6 pm on campus. The hostels are completely empty. Nobody stays, apart from the night watchmen. This is a very serious issue with regards to the smooth operation of an institution of higher learning of this nature,” Fulata said.

He said the oversight visit, which is in line with the constitutional provisions in terms of legislative roles, is not to witch-hunt anybody but to allow the legislators who have the power of appropriation to have proper knowledge of the running of the institutions and assist where necessary.

Similarly, Fulata said while the lawmakers are not against the university authorities to generate revenue internally, it will be an infraction if the internally generated revenue are spent without being appropriated by the Legislative Arm.

The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Lokoja, Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi who thanked the Fulata-led House Committee on University Education for the visit to the school, sought for the assistance of the legislators in addressing challenges of a new school like Federal University Lokoja.

He said infrastructure challenges as well as insecurity have been the major obstacles to the smooth running of the university.

He said the university has completed two hostels for both male and female students that can accommodate over 500 students, but no student is in the hostel because of the activities of bandits and kidnappers.

He said they become vulnerable to attack because the campus is porous, with no perimeter fencing.

“So that is why we did not allow our students to move to the hostels,” Prof. Akinwumi said.

He said apart from the infrastructural dilemma , the need to employ competent hands into various faculties and departments remains a challenge.