WRITTEN BY GORDI UDEAJAH
The less than one year in office old Pro-Chancellor/Chairman Governing Council ( PC) of the Abia State University Uturu ( ABSU ) Rt. Hon. Agwu U. Agwu, has posited that the ongoing holistic transformations being undertaken at the Abia state University Uturu ( ABSU) by the state governor and Visitor to the University Dr Alex Otti, evidence the governor’s determined and sustained strives to reposition and right-track it in line with comity of global universities.
The PC who spoke after he undertook inspection of the newly modernized female hostel of about 5,000 capacity, out of the others ( hostels ) that contracts for their similar renovation and retrofitting have been awarded, said that these are in line with governor Otti’s
“life-changing interventions to positively impact the students physically, spiritually and academically.
Governor Otti had after his March 2025 inspection of facilities in the university and found their state as deplorable and inadequate, announced to take immediate measures to address them by renovating and retrofitting them in line with global standard, including other inadequacies.
The PC who said that the promise-keeping governor Otti quickly awarded the contracts for the hostels , out of which the students have moved into the first completed one, paving the way for the Contractor that is on ground to commence the renovations of others in turns.
The PC ( Hon. Agwu ), a past Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, elatedly lauded the ABSU Visitor on behalf of his led Council, Management, Staff and Students ,
thanked God for using Governor Otti to recuddle/ nurture ABSU , remarking ” the provision of electricity , water, and other essential amenities in the hostels was a clear indication of the Governor’s genuine commitment to the welfare of ABSU students and the promotion of quality education in the state”.
The Pro-Chancellor consequently urged students to use the facilities being provided carefully and wisely, remain focused in their studies, hinting that the governor’s ongoing interventions in ABSU were introductory, and paving the way for greater things to come, ” if the students remain appreciative and continue to excell in their academic achievements that brought national and international acclaim and honours to the state”
“Let me hint to the university community , I think this is just the beginning of various other interventions. I therefore urge that our students keep faith with the state government, support the governor, face their studies diligently, and be peaceful, as more goodies are on the way”.
He also tasked the Hostel Managers on diligent management saying ” if they could maintain the old hostels the way they did in the past, I am confident they will do their utmost best to ensure that in the next 20 years, these hostels being renovated and retrofitted will still remain in good condition.”
Speaking during the Pro-Chancellor’s inspection visit, the Chairman of the Contracting Company , Dav Notch Nigeria Ltd, Hon. Victor Ochie, commended governor Otti’s resolve to reverse/ address the deplorable conditions under which the students lived in the hostels.
Ochie disclosed that his Company has been mandated to renovate other hostels to the same standard as the one the female students just moved into residency.
Although he stated being in position to deliver other hostels expeditiously, Hon Ochie said that the challenge to effecting this is that of relocating students from the hostels that were slated for renovation.
According to Ochei, ” the renovated hostel now reflects the true essence of a university environment, with facilities that will shape students’ experiences both academically and socially. Today’s result shows the difference between what was here before and what we have now, which is like night and day,”.
