By our Correspondent
For more than a week, the University of Uyo has been in total blackout across its Town Campus, Annex Campus, and the Permanent Campus following disconnection from the national grid, our Correspondent reports.
A highly placed source in the Works Department of the University, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that officials of the Power Holding Company cut off supply because the institution owes electricity bills running into millions of naira.
“The school has not been consistent in paying. NEPA came and disconnected the light, and since then everywhere has been in darkness,” the source said.
The situation has thrown both students and staff into dire conditions, with sanitary challenges worsening by the day.
In the female hostels, students lament that toilets are clogged and unfit for use. “The place is very dirty. Everywhere smells because there is no light to pump water. Some of us can’t even take proper baths,” a 300-level student in the Faculty of Arts, who lives in the Hostel, lamented.
Another student from the Faculty of Medicine said the blackout has disrupted academic life. “We can’t read at night. Even in the laboratory medical students suffer because the generators can’t run continuously. This is affecting our training seriously,” he said.
From the Faculty of Education, a final-year student expressed frustration: “We are preparing for tests, yet we are in darkness. If this continues, students may protest. We have endured too much already.”
In the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, students also raised concerns about the impact on laboratory work. “Our practicals depend on steady light. Now everything is suspended. It feels like the management doesn’t care about our future,” a student complained.
Staff of the University are equally stranded. Offices remain unequipped to function, leaving core administrative duties hanging.
A staff member in the Exams and Records Department, who spoke under condition of anonymity, revealed that the blackout has slowed the processing of transcripts. “People think we delay transcripts deliberately, but how can we prepare them when there is no light to power computers? Applicants keep piling pressure on us, yet we are handicapped,” the staff lamented.
The frustration is widespread among lecturers as well. “We can’t even print documents or access online materials from our offices. The Vice Chancellor has failed us. Administration is about foresight, but here there is none,” a lecturer in the Faculty of Social Sciences stated.
Many stakeholders point fingers squarely at the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Nyaudoh Ndaeyo, accusing him of ineptitude and poor leadership.
“The management is clueless. How can a university be cut off from power for over a week in this age? This is a disgrace, and the Vice Chancellor should be held responsible,” a staff in the Faculty of Education asserted.
Students are already mobilizing, and a major protest may erupt if urgent steps are not taken to restore power.
