Akpabio moves motion for construction of residence hall in state varsity
…says lack of facility 13 years after AKSU establishment clear violation of NUC regulations
By Daniel Etokidem
Thirteen years after the establishment of Akwa Ibom State University, AKSU, no single hostel has been completed to take care of the accommodation needs of the over 8000 students at both campuses in Obio Akpa, Oruk Anam Local Government Area, and Ikot Akpaden, Mkpat Enin Local Government Area, Member representing Essien Udim State Constituency, Prince Ukpong Akpabio, has revealed.
In a Motion on Notice on the floor of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly at plenary on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, Prince Akpabio noted that though Akwa Ibom State University established in 2010 is 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 does not have a single hostel facility for its students 13 years after its existence.
Going down memory lane, Akpabio noted that in 2010, the Akwa Ibom State Government awarded contract for the construction of hostels in the University with a capacity to accommodate 2600 students, but regretted that the hostel project remains unrealized as contractors abandoned the project midway into its construction.
“Due to the absence of decent hostel accommodation, students of the University are compelled by necessity to take up residence in lodges and houses close to the University campuses. The lodges and houses inhabitated by Students of the University are in complete squalor and deplorable conditions which render them unfit for residence by University students owing to their lack of electricity, portable water as well as adequate security”.
“The current accommodation challenges of students of the Akwa Ibom State University constitutes one of the greatest impediment 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 students of the University for accommodation”, Akpabio submitted.
He said the situation was urgent as the students now face serious insecurity issues by living off campus as was the case with 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 along Ubong Abasi Street in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area and murdered in cold blood.
According to Prince Akpabio, “the lack of hostel facilities in both campuses of the Akwa Ibom State University is a clear violation of the National Universities Commission (NUC) Regulations which requires all universities in Nigeria to accommodate at least 30% of their students population in campus hostels and the absence of hostel facilities in AKSU constitutes a collective embarrassment for Akwa Ibom State”.
He further stated that the completion of the abandoned hostel projects will go along way to 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.
The House resolved to mandate the State Government through the Ministry of Education to immediately undertake the completion of the abandon hostel projects, and invite the Vice Chancellor to throw more light on why the contract was abandoned and referred the matter to its Committee on Education for further legislative action.
