Several lecture halls at the Federal University of Lafia have been flooded as a result of a week-long downpour in the Nasarawa State capital.
The majority of the institution’s students were stranded at the school gate on Friday because they were unable to attend their classes owing to flooding in many areas of the school premises.
Mr. Felix, one of the students, urged the school administration to address the problem as soon as possible in order to avoid future episodes.
Felix said, “We are unable to attend lectures because of the flooding which affected many of our lecture halls.
“The rains have actually been heavy for some days now, but we want to appeal to the school management to help us on the matter so that we won’t have to be absent from classes in the future because of the floods.”
Felix also criticised the construction of some school buildings in swampy locations, urging the federal government to send a team of land surveyors to the institution to handle the persistent flooding issue.
In response, the Nasarawa State Government has implemented measures to limit the consequences of flooding in the state’s flood-prone postsecondary institutions.
Margaret Elayo, the State Commissioner for Special Duties on Humanitarian Services and NGOs, revealed this on Monday after viewing the multi-purpose hall of the Faculty of Arts at the Federal University of Lafia, which had been swamped by a week of heavy rainfall.
Elayo voiced concern over the issue and assured university administrators of the government’s support.
She advised the students to remain calm, as efforts to resolve the matter were already underway.
“We are committed to finding a remedy to mitigate the impact of the floods and support the university community to enable its students to resume their daily academic activities,” she said.
The commissioner and her entourage visited numerous lecture rooms that had been drowned by the flooding, including those in the English and Literary Studies, History and International Studies, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, and Visual and Creative Arts programmes.
Elayo explained that the goal of her visit was to learn firsthand about the extent of the flood devastation.
She committed to work with the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency to find answers and ensure students’ timely return to their normal academic schedules.