Centre For Equity And Eradication Of Rural Poverty Makes An Open Appeal To The Government Of Abia State.
Friday (Nkwo)21-02-2025.
An Incorporated Civil Society Organization, Centre For Equity And Eradication Of Rural Poverty, has made an open appeal to the Government of Abia State.
The appeal, dated 21st February, 2025, called on the Government of Abia State to reconsider its decision to relocate the Faculty of Law of Abia State University, Uturu, from its present location at Umudike, near Umuahia, to the main campus at Uturu.
The Centre, after a thorough investigation, discovered that there is currently no available infrastructure to serve as Lecture halls for returning Students and Lecturers of the Faculty of Law, not to talk of hostel accommodation for the Students at Uturu.
Most unfortunately, Landlords in Uturu, taking undue Shylock advantage of Government’s directive on relocation, have arbitrarily skyrocketed prices of residential accommodation in the University Community of Uturu. Findings reveal that the least a one-room accommodation, commonly called ‘self con’ at UpGate, within the University environment will cost now is N400, 000.00 per year.
Many of the Students are children of Civil Servants, Public Servants, Petty Traders and Peasant Farmers. Any sincere person that knows what the economic realities are in contemporary Nigeria, does not need any person to inform him or her that it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for such parents to cope with the challenge of hiring accommodation for their children at Uturu. Parents should not be subjected to excruciating human economic conditions for them to train their children. Such difficult conditions could be potential causes of high blood pressure that could lead to sudden deaths of some parents.
Centre For Equity And Eradication Of Rural Poverty also found out that because there is currently no accommodation to serve as Lecture halls for the returning Law Students, and no specific deadline for the Law Faculty to relocate to Uturu, Parents of the affected Law Students now find themselves in a dilemma. They do not know where to pay for accommodation for their children and wards. Should they renew their children’s accommodation at Umuahia or pay for it at Uturu? This is an element of uncertainty.
In the face of the realities hovering around relocation of the Faculty of Law of Abia State, Centre For Equity And Eradication Of Rural Poverty humbly and frankly appeals to the Government of Abia State to reconsider its decision to relocate the Faculty from Umuahia to Uturu. Apart from the obvious fact that the economy is biting extremely hard on Parents, the truth that Government has not put up any structure that can serve as Lecture halls for the Law Faculty is enough grounds for the the State Government to allow the Faculty of Law to remain at Umudike, near Umuahia where there are Courts and a multiplicity of Law Firms, just like the Faculty of Law of University of Nigeria, Nsukka is located at Enugu, and that of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, is located on Kongo Campus.
Sir Don Ubani, a former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Abia State, is the Executive Director, Centre For Equity And Eradication Of Rural Poverty, and Publisher of Equity Reporters.net.
