AfriPulse
April 12, (THEWILL) — The viral photo of students of Yobe State University sleeping outdoors on some roads within the school, with their clothes hanging from the perimeter fence, leaves much to be desired. It speaks volume of the ill-manner the management treats their students, shows disregard for human life and the presence of mechanical, intellectual rather than intelligent approach to issues in the school.
This condemnable style to issues showed itself in bold relief in the reaction of the institution’s management to the viral images on social media.
It claimed that the images were correct but misinterpreted. While the social media reaction put the problem down to lack of accommodation, the management explained that it is temporary and disclosed that many of the hostels are currently undergoing renovation and an upgrade.
According to the Focal Person on Digital and Strategic Communications to Governor Mai Mala Buni, Yusuf Ali, in a post he shared on his Facebook page on Wednesday, the management of Yobe State University admits that while the image is authentic, “it is important to clarify that it does not reflect a widespread accommodation crisis, but rather a temporary situation arising from ongoing hostel renovation and facility upgrade projects across the campus.”
He further goes on to say that the Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Sani Isa, has confirmed that hostel allocations are ongoing, with deliberate steps being taken to ensure that affected students are accommodated as quickly as possible while measures are also being implemented to decongest hostels, particularly high-demand facilities such as the Abuja Hostel. Which brings us back to the viral images he was disputing their authenticity but with negligible success.
From his explanation, it is clear that the university is facing an accommodation crisis. Besides, he tries to downplay the gravity of the situation by shifting some of the blame to the decision by the students, thus; “the current heat season (sic) has contributed to some students opting to stay outdoors at night for comfort.”
As stated earlier, it is obvious that the university is facing a serious accommodation challenge and it is trying in its own way to resolve it. But the so-called “comprehensive refurbishment,” many of the hostels are said to be undergoing,” could have been done during the holidays when many, if not all, students are usually away from school. Quite frankly, this treatment sounds shabby; it is and should be beyond the administrative competence of a 20 year-old university.
Generally, problems of any kind can and often do crop up in any challenging environment, such as ours in Nigeria. In this case, however, planning and timing could have resolved the matter.
The way it is now, the lives of its students are being put in harm’s way. Yobe is one of the states in the Northeast that has continued to witness terror-related attacks and Damaturu, its capital, has been known to be a target, particularly villages within Damaturu Local Government.
We urge the university to speed up with the refurbishment, decongestion and find a way to beef up security around the students, as the government official said, they prefer to sleep outdoors at night because of the prevailing bad weather.
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Source: TheWillNigeria | Read the Full Story…
