1st January, 2021
By Chinyere Nwachukwu
Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila of the House of Representatives on Friday praised the University of Lagos management for doggedness that resulted in the construction of a 500-bed hostel for international students.
Gbajabiamila made the commendation while inspecting the hostel project in the university, expressing satisfaction at the level of implementation.
”I must commend the Vice-Chancellor of this university, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, for his doggedness and vision.
“He came to Abuja not once, not twice, to discuss this matter with me; we thank God that together, we have been able to put this together.
”I am surprised to see the level of development so far and even more surprised that from inquiries from the contractor and other experts, by the next nine months, the project will be up and running. That is very impressive,” the lawmaker said.
He said that, when completed, the hostel would contribute to a conducive learning environment. “If you may know, this is the university where I graduated from; accommodation has always been a problem.
”We hope that this will be part of the solution to the accommodation problem for our children; a learning environment is not just about the classroom, but even about outside the classroom.
”How comfortable your environment is, how easy it is for you to get from home to the classroom, are all factors to consider. We look forward to commissioning it,” he said.
On his message to Nigerians in the new year, the speaker said: ”It is a message of hope. This hope even goes around the whole world. We all know what last year was for everybody – challenges.
“The pandemic (COVID-19) is something nobody anticipated or saw coming; we hope that it will go with the outgone year.
”We are hopeful that things will get better, we have to continue to live with an abiding faith in God.
“He alone knows what he is doing; He will keep us this year; we have survived last year, this year will be a better year for everyone.
The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Ogundipe, said at the event that the university management was satisfied that the project started as scheduled.
”By September/October this year, the project will be completed; that will bring the issue of accommodation for our students to ease out gradually.
”This is a big sign of hope for the university, we are happy that we are starting this year with this type of project,” he said.
On his plan for the institution in 2021, Ogundipe said that the university’s management was working hard to ensure that the university’s presence would be strongly felt globally.
He added that management would ensure that such a presence would be felt stronger in the area of research.
” I am sure that the University of Lagos would be more visible this year than it had been in the past years and that there will be more peace and stability in the institution.
”Also, we plan to have our convocation as soon as possible this year,” he said.
The contractor handling the project, Mr Temitope Awolola, noted the project was a two-storey building that would house no fewer than 500 international students.
”This project which started in December 2020, will be carried out in two phases; hopefully, it will be completed in September this year,” Awolola said.
NAN