The Vice-Chancellor of the newly established Federal University of Technology, Ikot-Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, Prof. Leo Daniel, has raised concern over the severe shortage of classrooms as student enrolment continues to rise.
Speaking at the university’s temporary site on Friday, Prof. Daniel said the lack of classroom blocks is putting pressure on students and lecturers, with over 3,000 students competing for limited lecture spaces.
He made the call while receiving members of the Eket Senatorial District Professionals, led by their chairman, Dr. Edet Okpo, who visited the campus to assess its facilities.
Represented by the Acting Director of Works, Mr. Anietie Ekanem, the Vice-Chancellor explained that although the university has 12 departments, lectures are currently held mainly in the lecture theatre, the School of Engineering and the School of Information Technology.
“Our major challenge is classroom space. The number of students keeps increasing, but the facilities have not matched that growth,” he said.
To cope, the university now splits students into batches, especially for general courses, with different groups attending lectures at different times.
While appealing to the Federal Government and well-meaning Nigerians for urgent intervention, Prof. Daniel commended Senator Ekong Sampson (Akwa Ibom South) for sponsoring the construction of a hall, describing it as a timely support.
Responding, Dr. Okpo said the visit was aimed at identifying the university’s needs and drawing attention to areas requiring support.
In a related development, Okpo criticised those attacking Senator Sampson’s N100 million student empowerment scheme, which benefited 500 students across the senatorial district.
Speaking at a one-day seminar in Eket, he dismissed claims that the funds should have been used for material handouts, describing such criticism as selfish and misleading.
He said the investment in education would yield long-term benefits for the region, adding that attempts to discredit the initiative amount to “gutter journalism.”
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