The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Faruk Kuta, expressed his appreciation at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new 108-bed student hostel. The hostel is being built by philanthropist Abdul Samad Rabiu to alleviate accommodation challenges faced by the university’s student body.
Nigerian universities are currently faced with the challenge of accommodating its teeming population of student intakes, which has balloned over the years.
Report shows that currently, FUT Minna has over 26,000 students, with only 3,129 having hostel accommodation within the campus.
Kuta had lamented during the groundbreaking ceremony of the hostels accommodation at the main campus that housing the students remains one of the school’s teething problems, which gives him sleepless nights.
He noted that philathropist Abdul Samad Rabiu, through his ASR Africa Initiative, came to its rescue at the right time.
According to ASR Africa Initiative managing director Ubon Udoh who performed the groundbreaking ceremony at the institution’s main campus at the Gidan Kwano area of Minna, Niger State, the project cost the ASR Africa Initiative N250 million and is a 108 bed hostel.
“The cost of the project is N250 million. Usually, all ASR Africa projects from N250 million to N500 million have a six-month time frame. Anything over N500 million to N2 billion, we give it a 12-month time frame.
“There are 30 universities, and 22 schools got N250 million while six got N1 billion each. Of course, it’s a reality that the whole country is facing the economic situation. Even though the grants are fixed, there is always room to adjust and make sure that the contractors complete their work,” Udoh said.
The FUT Minna Vice Chancellor, in a similar media interview called on other well meaning Nigerians to come to the aid of the university and provide more accommodation for the students, stressing that the school cannot guarantee the security of the students when they reside outside the campus premises.
