By IJENDU IHEAKA

Gov. Alex Otti of Abia has ordered the authorities of Abia State University(ABSU) to demolish the Law and Agriculture faculties buildings, which are dilapidated .

Otti gave the order at a two-day retreat, organised for the re-constituted Governing Council of ABSU, by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Dr Agwu U. Agwu.

He said that demolition of the buildings was necessary, to save students from danger.

“I set up a committee and sent them to go and see how the Law and Agriculture faculty buildings are, and the conclusion of their report is that there are no buildings that could house those faculties, even when renovated.

“Vice -Chancellor, you have your job cut out for you; you cannot allow students to be in those buildings, because when they collapse, you will lose the students.

“I heard that students read in those building; those buildings should be pulled down,” the governor said.

He said that construction of new buildings had approved for both faculties and that the drawings would be completed soon.

Otti promised to release funds for the faculty buildings, to ensure their completion within the academic session.

He said that both faculties, which were relocated to Umuahia Campus by the last administration in the state, would remain there until the provision of adequate accommodation.

The governor regretted that the university, which was ranked second, following its establishment after the Rivers State University in 1981, was now 37 on the ranking list.

He charged all stakeholders to do the necessary things to improve the state of things at the institution.

The Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Prof Uche Eme Uche, said that Otti inherited a broken ABSU, with all kinds of stories of malpractice.

Uche said that the governor constituted a Visitation Panel, which made recommendations morphed into a white paper, whose implementation formed the basis for ABSU’s transformation.

She urged the council to understand the relationship between the council and the management and their operational rules to advance the institution’s progress.

Earlier, the Pro-Chancellor, Dr Agwu U. Agwu, said that the retreat had selected experienced resource persons to usher in a new era in the university.

Agwu said although ABSU had produced eminent personalities, it still lagged behind ,stressing a lot needed to be done to make it a world-class institution.

He thanked the governor for the steps taken to improve the institution’s status and sought more investment to upgrade the status of ABSU.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof Ndukwe Okeudo, said that the governor’s commitment to educational excellence in the state was manifest in 20 per cent budget allocation to education and free education in the state.

Okeudo expressed hope that lessons learnt from the retreat would help enhance the performance of the council. (NAN)