The Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council, Dr. Barr. Aboki Zhawa has lauded staff and students of College of Engineering (COLENG) for their ingenuity and resourcefulness in constructing a four units comfort station using bricks.
Commending their efforts, the highly elated Pro-Chancellor said “there is no education or experience that is wasted. You will be surprised that what you have done here is going to create an opportunity for some to get a job and even make money on their own”.
He noted that in most developed countries, people are building simple houses for themselves using bricks without having to worry about buying blocks.
The Chairman, Governing Council however, speaking on the way forward stressed that the students should pay more attention to calculations and ensure that the bricks are up to specifications.
According to him, “You need serious measurements but all in all, it is a good start. You must do plumbing so as to ensure that everything goes smoothly, that is why you are being trained as Engineers, that is the difference between the local people and you, you can do accurate measurement, so that everything will be on the same level, that is the most important aspect”.
He challenged researchers in the College to research into ways in which they can produce bricks that will not need to be painted and will not be affected by the weather even though they are not oven baked.
Earlier in his Introductory Remarks, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kolawole Salako disclosed that the bricks used for the construction were made from the block moulding equipment received by the University in November 2017.
According to him, immediately the equipment arrived at the University the Engineering staff and Technologists informed that the University did not need to get a Consultant to train them on how to use the equipment. He said students who were on their industrial training were engaged in moulding the bricks which were used to build the toilet.
Professor Salako encouraged the students not to allow themselves to be deceived pointing out that the training they were receiving are not to exploit them but rather see it as a learning process which will be of use to them in future.
Explaining the task and procedure used, the Dean, COLENG, Professor Olasunkanmi Ismaila said “the task that was given to us was to do some bricks, we did it and then we thought that we should be able to put it to use and that is why we built these toilets. He said “about 1300 bricks were used to do it although we keyed those bricks with some reinforcements and apart from the fact that some of our students were there, we also used some of our staff who put them through some of the rules and activity. So we have 4 toilets for use, 2 for males and 2 for females.
The Dean also showcased other equipment that have been fabricated by the College to the Pro-Chancellor and other Management staff in his entourage.
