A call has gone to students in Nigerian Universities to contribute pro-actively to the development of their Universities by engaging in direct labour exercise, in order to gain practical experience, as well as augment their finances for self reliance. The call was made by a former Federal Minister of Works, now the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB ), Sir/Senator (Dr.) Adeseye Ogunlewe, while leading a team with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Olusola Oyewole, on an inspection tour of facilities within the University campus.
On-going projects inspected included the Information and Communication Technology Building, the link road from the Unity Building and the fence along Alabata Road and College of Management Sciences (COLMAS), the 2,500-Seater Auditorium, Centre for Entrepreneurship Building and the 1,000-Seater Auditorium. Others were the reception and Office Buildings for the Laboratory Complex, the 250-Capacity Biology, Physics and Chemistry laboratories.
During the tour, it was decided that the present location of the main bus-stop shoull be moved. Presenting the proposal to the Pro-Chancellor and Principal Officers of the University, Professor Oyewole said an alternative location
would be allotted to the park, while a gigantic, 3-storey building would be constructed on the current site.
According to him, “on getting to a University, the type of structure you first see will give you a good impression of the place. So, let’s relocate this bus-stop to the other end … and put one of the very big, beautiful 3-storey structure into this place”, adding that when the construction is completed, it would portray the University as a true Centre for Excellence. Giving an update on the ICT Building, the Deputy Director, Physical Planning Unit, Arch Babatunde Anasanwo, disclosed that the overall progress of the building was about 70 per cent. He said almost all the offices on the ground floor, the upper floor and the Directorate section had been tiled, adding that what was outstanding now were the electrical, mechanical installations and fittings, painting work, as well as the ceiling works.
The Vice-Chancellor pointed out that the erection of the building was “to coordinate ICT in the whole of the campus and also to provide 24 hours ICT access to students who would like to use the café”.
The Pro-Chancellor added that the building be given a name that would reflect its purpose, such as ‘ICT Centre’. He also advised that students should be made to pay a stipend for Internet services being provided such that the income generated could be used for continuous upgrading of the facility. The project is expected to be completed by mid-March. Appraising the road linking the Unity Building and the fence along the Alabata Road and the College of Management Sciences, the Director of PPU, Mr Babatunde Ayodele, said that the road was originally meant to be about three kilometres, but because of redesigning, the University was able to save some funds. He said part of the savings would be channeled towards the construction of an access road to the College of Management Sciences (COLMAS).
Mr Ayodele further informed that the University had proposed that a portion along the Alabata fence be opened-up, to decongest the main gate and serve as the major access road to COLMAS. The Director disclosed that the University’s main gate would link the road from Camp. In his assessment of the 2,500-Seater Auditorium, the Pro-Chancellor said “the auditorium is rather complex but a fairly good work has been done; design is also very complex but could be simplified. At least, it is good and if the exterior part is properly completed, it would give us a very proper out-look”. He recommended the use of interlocking stones at the exteriors to keep the property in good shape and also for taking advantage of the large expanse of land beside the auditorium for the construction of a golf course. The contractor promised to hand-over the completed building on or before the end of February, 2014.
Appraising the College of Management Sciences building, Senator Ogunlewe expressed his satisfaction with the quality of the job being done and recommended that the University should replicate similar designs in other projects. He also acknowledged the importance of having an auditorium attached to the building, in order to accommodate the many students, who applied for Management Science courses. The Chief Planning Officer, PPU, Mrs. Odun Akinsola, had earlier informed the team that the College building was originally designed to be accompanied by an auditorium. She said the tiling work was still on-going on the upper floor.
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor had stated that it had concluded arrangement with the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, to build a one-storey secretariat, as a donation to the University. Professor Oyewole stated that the structure will be located beside COLMAS and would serve as the Association’s regional centre, to ease the stress of having its members travel to Jos, to write their examinations. At the Entrepreneurship Centre building site, the Deputy Director, PPU, Arch Babatunde Anasanwo, pointed out that the building was a one-storey block, having offices, exhibition halls and workshops rooms on the ground floor, while the upper floor would host the office of the Director, senior officers, conference room and a large lecture hall. He added that the building is a Tertiary Education Trust Fund-supported project, which has a completion period of 24 weeks. Commenting on the 1,000-Seater Auditorium, Dr Ogunlewe rated the layout as very high, while commending the PPU for a good design.
It was disclosed that TETFund specifically allocated funds for the construction of the Centre for Entrepreneurship Building. “They allocated only 75 million while the University is adding the balance, which is N 25 million, to be able to have a befitting edifice for the Entrepreneurship Building including its furniture and air-conditioners”.
Meanwhile, Professor Oyewole had said that the University had decided that it would start making use of its Professors in the College of Engineering as Consultants in the University projects. The Inspection team also commended the construction work going on at the 250-capacity Biology, Physics and Chemistry laboratories.
He further disclosed that the incumbent administration inherited about 22 uncompleted projects but had put in place the necessary machinery, which had yielded fruits, as all the projects had either been completed or at an advanced stage of completion.
These include the Veterinary Teaching Hospital; the Box and Pipe Culverts on the 12km Laterite Road from the University Bus-Stop via Farm Centre to INHURD (Lot B); the road from the University fence to the end of the Works and Services Department; the FUNAAB Souvenir Shop; the 2,500-Capacity Auditorium and the ICTREC Building. Others are the Staff School; the University Mini-Mart; and the link road from the Health Centre to the International Scholars’ and Resource Centre, up to Vice-Chancellor’s Lodge.
The Director lauded the Governing Council, led by Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe as well as the University Management for their immense contributions in transforming FUNAAB in terms of physical and infrastructural development, which he noted would greatly assist the University in attaining the world-class status.
