VC appeals to FG to provide access road

Rose Ejembi Makurdi

Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (FUAM), Prof. Richard Kimbir has appealed to the federal government to help provide access road to the institution.

Kimbir who made the appeal on Friday at a press conference to mark his three years in office noted that absence of access road constitutes a major challenge to the university.

“Another major challenge is the absence of a good access road to the university as mapped out in the original plan of the University.

“The current entrance to the University is not the main entrance and people use it indiscriminately as a thoroughfare which renders the school vulnerable to insecurity and encroachment.

While noting that one of the bridges leading to the university collapsed during the last rainy season and had to be rehabilitated for use, the VC said four other bridges are.already very weak.and may not stand the next rainy season.

“Recall that one of the bridges collapsed last raining season. We are appealing to the FG to look into this. We are the only university in this country without a properly dualized road. We have made an appeal and we believe the Government can help us,” Kimbir said.

The VC who lamented that despite the progress made by the University in the last three years, efforts at modernization of infrastructures to backup teaching, research and extension services are still being constrained on several fronts.

“Apart from inadequate funding which is a major challenge in realizing the mission and mandate of the University, strike by industrial unions on campus has been a remarkable challenge.

He noted that more than 12 out of the 36 months of the institution’s activities have been held down due to strike actions of industrial Unions on campus adding that the negative impact of man hours lost in the process can only be imagined.

He explained further that the Corona Virus (COVlD-19) pandemic has had a debilitating impact on the university’s productive capacity in the last nine months due to the Lockdown in all aspects of activities.

Kimbir however commended Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Federal Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TEFfund), the National Universities Commission (NUC), Benue State Government and other funding Agencies for their support.