Windstorm: Unical appeals to Niger Delta Ministry, others for intervention

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Obi, has called for stakeholders intervention over the windstorm destruction of infrastructure at the institution.

She made the appeal to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Tertiary Education Trust Fund and the Niger Delta Development Commission while inspecting the damages on Friday in Calabar.

Obi said that properties worth millions of Naira have been destroyed by the windstorm that occurred during the heavy downpour of Thursday.

It was reported that the buildings affected include the Medical College, Post Graduate School, Faculty of Education, Printing Press, Senate Chambers, open pavilion and Department of Medical Laboratory.

Others are the Sen. Godswill Akpabio Engineering Lecture Theatre, telecommunication mast, the Isolation Centre, electrical and solar installations, the Vice Chancellor’s office as well as the male and females hostels among others.

The VC said that the windstorm was coming at a time when the University has yet to recover from the destruction of its facilities by hoodlums who hijacked the #Endsars protest on Oct. 24, 2020 in Calabar.

“Today is another very sad day, just like it happened during the #Endsars protest. When I came onboard as VC, we commenced the fixing of the hostels and other areas that were destroyed by the hoodlums, here we are again witnessing another form of destruction.

“We have invested so much on the printing press because we wanted to make it a commercial venture; even the Senate Chambers of the University where we used to have our international cooperation have all been affected because the roof has been destroyed.

“The sad story is that the new Medical College building that was yet to be handed over to the school was also badly affected.

“We are appealing to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, the Niger Delta Development Commission, National Emergency Management Agency, TetFund, well-meaning Nigerians and Alumni of the institution to come to our aid,” she said.

The Registrar of the University, Mr Gabriel Egbe, who was also on the inspection tour, appealed to relevant government agencies to come in and assist the University in the area of projects intervention.

The Student Union President of the University, Mr James Ugah, also appealed to the Federal Government and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to urgently intervene, especially in the hostel with a view to replace the damaged facilities.