SaharaReporters learnt that the NDDC project is now overgrown with weeds, and the walls are dilapidated going by years of neglect of the structure.
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has abandoned its students’ hostels project at the Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, Ondo State, forcing the students to stay off the campus, where they are being attacked by criminals.
SaharaReporters learnt that the NDDC project is now overgrown with weeds, and the walls are dilapidated going by years of neglect of the structure.
SaharaReporters was told that the OAUSTECH hostel project was started in conjunction with the Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC), which has also failed to monitor the completion of the hostels’ contract.
In a letter to the NDDC and OSOPADEC, the Students’ Union President, Okunomo Damilola, said the students called on the authorities to ensure “the completion of the school hostel,” adding that the students staying off the campus pay through their nose to secure accommodation and are also susceptible to attacks.
The letter obtained by SaharaReporters is titled, “Open Letter to the Niger Delta Development Commission and the Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission as regards uncompleted hostels in OAUSTECH.”
It reads, “Amid the recent development around the Ayeka-Igodan Okitipupa axis, in which cases of theft, rape, intimidation are reportedly increasing around the named community, students of Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa have repeatedly become the victims of these hostile and inimical happenings since the majority of the students live off-campus because the school is deprived of a housing system.
“Over the years, the NDDC and OSOPADEC started a project work on campus which was to erect an architectural structure for the students which will serve as a housing system, but the project was abandoned by the organisations involved.
“The SUG of OAUSTECH has come to realise that to put a stop to the intimidation of students off-campus, there is a need for a proper housing system on campus. Oppression from indigenes can only occur outside the horizons of the school jurisdiction, the safety of any student can be assured as he or she is within the arm of the school walls.
“The Students' Union Government hereby calls on the authorities in charge to take action, as we seek a positive response by having them embark on the completion of the school hostel.
“We call on able Individuals of the society, corporate bodies, public sectors, private parastatal and governmental bodies and the Federal Government to intervene and help in building the school housing facilities on campus.”