Posted by By Samuel Oyadongha on
STUDENTS of the Bayelsa State government owned Niger Delta University (NDU) Wednesday night embarked on a protest forcing the authorities to order the shut down of the institution.
YENAGOA - STUDENTS of the Bayelsa State government owned Niger Delta University (NDU) Wednesday night embarked on a protest forcing the authorities to order the shut down of the institution.
The students sealed the Amassoma campus, marched to Yenagoa, the state capital yesterday morning and closed down the liaison office of the NDU on the Road safety road.
The deputy registrar of the institution, Mr. G. Kenkayero gave the students up till 10 am yesterday to vacate the hostels and handover the institution's properties in their possession to the porters.
It was gathered that the students were protesting the non-accreditation of courses being run by the National Universities Commission (NUC) as well as poor facilities at the Niger Delta University.
Some students told Vanguard at Amassoma that their fear was borne out of the fact that the fourth year students who are supposed to graduate this year may not go for National Youth Service Corps [NYSC] national assignment of their institution status.
Consequently they concluded that, it is better for the school to close down not until they resolve the issue of accreditation with the NUC prompting them to embark on demonstration. Said one of the students, ‘'Can you imagine that students admitted to read medicine in the NDU are now to be awarded with certificates on anatomy, biochemistry, micro-biology and other related courses as against what they registered for,'' he noted with sadness.
He noted with regret what he described as the state government's insensitivity to the plight of the students and the institution and wondered why it would not want to pump enough money for the school to be well equipped and meet the accreditation requirements of the NUC instead of engaging in extravagant spending on trivial things that has no bearing on the overall development of the young state.'
'Reacting to the development on campus, the institution's Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ebiegberi Amazige told newsmen that the students locked-out the vice chancellor, Prof. John Buseri and other principal officers, academic and non-academic staff for several hours on Wednesday in the course of pressing home their grievances.
According to him, the university authorities had taken time to explain the issue of accreditation of courses by the NUC on Monday to the students'' union government and wondered why they would embark on the protest and out rightly call for the closure of the school.
He disclosed that the state government has released money for the purchase of equipment and awarded contracts for the construction of the Law faculty, residential accommodation for staff, hostels among others.
ple English,'' adding that the university authorities met Wednesday night and decided to close down the institution since it was no longer conducive for learning with a view to averting break down of law and order.