The management of University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria, has said that it is working on ways to permanent put a stop to the sufferings of students living off campus, especially when there is breakdown of social order as currently being inflicted on them by fuel scarcity in the Kwara State capital.
While that effort is on, the university said it had made special arrangements for vehicles from Kwara State Government, private bodies and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), which were tailored towards cushioning the effects of the fuel scarcity on the students coming to attend lectures from outside the university’s campus.
One of the ways is to intensify effort on increasing the number of hostels built on campus to avoid situation where such occurrence in future would affect the students.
Answering a question posed The DEFENDER on Wednesday on what the institution’s authorities were doing to alleviate the sufferings of off-campus students, who had to trek from hostels in to attend lectures particularly on Tuesday, Head of Public Affairs Unit of the nation’s most patronized university, Mr. Kunle Akogun, said although it was a general problem that fuel scarcity had inflicted hardship on many people across the country but that the school’s management was working at something.
In his submission, Akogun said, “As you are well aware, the problem is not a domestic one, it is not peculiar to Unilorin. It is as a result of the ongoing fuel crisis in the country.
“However, the management of the University of Ilorin has put a number of measures in place to cushion the effect of transportation challenges on the students. We have engaged the services of 8 Soludero buses from the state government aside the intervention vehicles received from private organisations and NURTW.
“The management has also intensified efforts on the building of more hostels to accommodate more students on campus. This will drastically reduce the number of students going outside the campus every day.
“The welfare of Unilorin students is a top priority of the university management,” he said.
The DEFENDER had reported how off-campus students resorted to trekking from the long route from Oke Odo, Tanke areas to attend lectures on Monday.
It can now, however, be authoritatively reported that, with the efforts of the authorities, the students now have found relief as they have, at least, temporary measures in place, which make their movement to and from campus easy.
