The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has delivered three internally-rehabilitated 1.80 kilometres roads to the management of the University of Ibadan, Oyo State.
Mrs Boade Akinola, the Director of Press and Public Relations in the ministry, made the disclosure in a statement to newsmen in Abuja, on Wednesday.
The 1.80km roads which were rehabilitated by the Federal Government have asphalt overlay, construction of culvert and line drains within the tertiary institution.
The roads include Gongola, 230 metres, Sokoto Crescent, 560 metres, and Amina Way 1,010 metres.
It will be recalled that the Federal Government, under the 2017 and 2018 appropriation, approved 43 contracts for the rehabilitation of internal roads in Federal Tertiary Institutions in the six geo-political zones.
The University of Ibadan is one of the beneficiaries in the first phase of the intervention.
Akinola said in the statement that Fashola was represented by the Federal Controller of Works, Oyo State, Mr Oladimeji Awopetu, said 18 out of the 43 internal road projects had been completed and were being handed over across the country.
The minister said the intervention was to bridge the gap in the school’s infrastructure needs, adding that students were expressing renewed enthusiasm with regards to attending classes because some defective roads had been restored.
“To date, 18 out of the 43 interventions have been completed and today we hand over this one in the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, as a critical contribution to support education,” Fashola said.
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Abel Olayinka, thanked President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Works and Housing, for selecting the institution as one of the beneficiaries among many tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
“For us to have been part of this intervention, we are very grateful.
“Though we have been doing some palliative repairs in the past, this time around, the Federal Government had surprised us by coming in a big way to fix these roads,” Olayinka said.
The vice-chancellor revealed that more internal roads of the institution were still yearning for urgent attention, and appealed to the government to intervene as soon as resources were available.
The university’s Director of Works, Mr Adetolu Olufemi, noted that the roads had been in a deplorable state before the rehabilitation.
Also, a student from the Department of European Studies, Adeyemi Ayomikun, said that the intervention was a great relief to the university community.
According to Ayomikun, students have been saved a lot of stress in moving from the hostels to their lecture rooms.
Among the dignitaries present at the handing over ceremony were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC-Administration), Prof. Kayode Adebowale, DVC Academics, Prof. Adebola Ekanola.
Others were DVC Research Innovation and Strategies Partnership, Prof. Olayinka Adeyemo, the University Bursar, Dr Michael Alatise, and Mr Olatunji Oladejo of the Directorate of Public Communications. (NAN)
