Cross River is a State blessed with a panoply of uniqueness. It is a place that has several climate zones with extraordinary biodiversity that can’t be matched by any State in Nigeria and across the West African sub-region, and its greatest asset has been the good people of Cross River State spread across a network of indigenous mountains and low lands.
Today, I’m not going to be focusing on that, I’ll be dwelling on the only State University operating inside of it – the University of Cross River State. The history of the University can be found on the website of the school with the likes of the former governor of the State – Mr. Donald Duke and the school management doing a great service through their vital selfless effort, establishing the University in the early 2000s. That vision and foresight today are forever commendable offering opportunities for generations to come. It’s what we call real and visionary leadership in Citizen’s Solution Network.
That said, it’s sad to note that many years, in fact almost two decades had gone by, since the establishment and operationalization of the campuses in Ogoja and Obubra without both campuses having hostels for students or an organized school accommodation system in these two campuses.
Hence, freshers who gained admission within and from outside the state, studying certain courses offered outside the Calabar Campus are shocked to find out that no hostel accommodation in those two campuses where the faculty of agriculture, and the faculty of management sciences and some social science courses are in.
The implications for this aren’t just the extra burden, financially along with the psychological strains this needless absence of Hostel Accommodation places on students, parents, and lecturers, it negates the overall potentiality of the school to compete on a global scale favorably with its contemporaries, knowing clearly that hostel accommodation impacts greatly on students’ academic performance, general safety, the university rating at national and international levels, and legacy ascribed to any governor or statement at any time.
The Cross River State leadership, specifically the current Governor of the State, should realize that the future of the state university lies on how well essential infrastructures and vital structures are introduced into the university, and hostel accommodation buildings are one of such essentials for the legacy memorial, the institutional rating and the overall infrastructural boosting needed for new outcome and attraction.
As I saw recently while visiting University of Lagos, there were series of Hostel buildings built and donated by Femi Gbajabiamila; the likes of Sen. Agom Jarigbe, Sen. Eteng Jonah Williams and Sen. Asuquo Ekpenyong Jr. and their House of Rep counterparts in Cross River State can take a lift and help facilitate hostel accommodation buildings in those other campuses in UNICROSS, to further develop the school.
The time to do this was yesteryears, but today, the foundation can be laid on one of those available 33-plus hectares of land spanning both Obubra and Ogoja Campuses. Any person or group of persons who takes this initiative stands to have his or her name sealed with the history of the state and university beyond the occupation of public offices. An uncompromising institution such as Citizens’ Solution Network will be around to tell the story and offer praise where needed.
Let me close this writeup today with the following: according to Adams (2022), the significance of a student’s social environment cannot be overstated. The availability, appropriateness, and usefulness of hostel amenities are the determining elements in students’ selection of a university, their capacity to concentrate, and their level of contentment. This makes it necessary for colleges to prioritize student housing while simultaneously increasing the school’s reputation among contemporaries. The student housing is reported to offer facilities such as bedrooms that can be used for both sleeping and studying, baths and toilets, a kitchen, a laundry room, recreational areas, and Internet connectivity to enhance the study-learning experience.
Abramson (2022), on his side, asserted that student housing might be made more interesting by adding ATMs, a car park, small markets, bookstores, and cafeterias to the student housing complex.
Richard F. Inoyo is the Country Director of Citizens Solution Network and the Principal Consultant of Carthinium Group Ltd. He writes from Lagos.
NOTE: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Richard F. Inoyo, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.
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