By Jeleel Olawale

No fewer than five 100l students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife were on Thursday injured when the Amphitheater collapsed on them by the heavy rainfall in the morning while the students were taking SER001 Class in Ile-Ife in the morning.

According to a student who was one of the survivors, Babatunde Damilare said, the ceiling in the Amphitheater fell on the students which resulted in the incident.

The students had told the lecturer while the lecture was ongoing to end the class when the heavy rain enveloped the whole Amphitheater. The lecturer did not stop the class until part of the building collapsed on them.

A release by the Public Relations Officer of the University, Mr. Abiodun Olarewaju, said the torrential rainfall of early Thursday morning, accompanied with a whirlwind, which started as students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, were having a lecture, SER to be precise, in the Amphitheatre of the Oduduwa Hall, affected the ceiling of the Amphitheatre as it fell off and injured a few of the students.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Adebayo Simeon Bamire led other principal officers to the Medical and Health Centre of the University, and ensured that the injured students were given adequate medical attention.

The statement stated that the Vice-Chancellor also followed two other students, whose cases demanded more medical attention to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), where the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Professor John Okeniyi, physically supervised the proceedings.

The Vice-Chancellor has, therefore, appealed for calm and urged students and staff to go about their academic and administrative activities without any form of untoward action.

Meanwhile, the management of the University has sealed off the amphitheatre, the venue of the unfortunate incident, until further notice.

Also, the president of the Students Union, Comrade Abbas Akinremi said, the incident of ceiling collapse occurred at the Amphitheater of Oduduwa Hall of the university which has never occured in the history of the institution.

“The place is always being used for social events. Nothing of such happened. He said the situation has been stable as normalcy has since been returned to the institution.

“The institution management has been on top of the incident. The Vice-Chancellor really took proactive steps in ensuring that normalcy has returned to the institution. He has visited the injured students at the University health centre before they were referred to Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital,” he said.

Abbas debunked the rumour that a roof collapsed as it’s being circulated around.

He said that it was part of the ceiling that fell on some students, five of whom have been taken to the University health centre, while the most critical two were taken to Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC).

According to him, the affected students had been adequately treated and were all stable, thanking God for no casualty.

He urged school management to continue monitoring and ensure maintenance of lecture building, hostels for the safety of staff and the students.

The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, on Thursday night announced that May 24, 2024, was the official date for “the opening of a portal for student loan applications,” a statement signed by the media lead of the Fund, Nasir Ayantogo said.

Ayantogo, in a statement, said the opening of the application portal marks a significant milestone in the commitment of President Bola Tinubu to” fostering accessible and inclusive education for all Nigerian students.”

On June 12, 2023, Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, into law to enable indigent students to access interest-free loans for their educational pursuits in any Nigerian tertiary institution.

The move was in “fulfilment of one of his campaign promises to liberalise funding of education,” a member of the then Presidential Strategy Team, Dele Alake, said.

The Act, popularly known as the Students Loan Law, also established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to process all loan requests, grants, disbursement, and recovery.

Although the government initially announced that the scheme would be launched in September, it suffered several delays, leading to an indefinite postponement in early March.

The Presidency had linked the delay to Tinubu’s directive to expand the scheme to include loans for vocational skills.

After receiving a briefing from the NELFUND team led by the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, on January 22, the President directed the Fund to extend interest-free loans to Nigerian students interested in skill-development programmes.

Tinubu based his decision on the need for the scheme to accommodate those who may not want to pursue a university education, noting that skill acquisition is as essential as obtaining undergraduate and graduate academic qualifications.

“This is not an exclusive programme. It is catering to all of our young people. Young Nigerians are gifted in different areas.

“This is not only for those who want to be doctors, lawyers, and accountants. It is also for those who aspire to use their skilled and trained hands to build our nation.

“In accordance with this, I have instructed NELFUND to explore all opportunities to inculcate skill-development programmes because not everybody wants to go through a full university education,” he had said.

Through the portal, students can now access loans to pursue their academic aspirations without financial constraints.

The portal, according to the statement, provides a user-friendly interface for students to submit their loan applications conveniently.

“We encourage all eligible students to take advantage of this opportunity to invest in their future and contribute to the growth and development of our nation.

“Students can access the portal on www.nelf.gov.ng to begin application,” the statement said.

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Assets has issued a stern warning to cancel all Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreements and concessions within the Federal Ministry of Transport.

The announcement came during a session in Abuja where the committee interrogated officials from the ministry, led by Permanent Secretary Pius Oteh.

Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Ademorin Kuye, expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of compliance with existing laws in the PPP and concessions agreements, particularly concerning the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) and the Railway Property Management Company Limited (RPMC).

Kuye stated that non-compliance with extant laws could lead to the cancellation of these agreements.

Oteh also told the committee that the ministry has over 170 leases but was unable to provide the relevant documents as required by the lawmakers to prove whether there were compliance with the extent laws.

One of the required documents is the receipt of payment which the lawmakers said was not attached to the documents submitted by the ministry in disregard to their request.

The committee in its resolution invited the Minister of Transport, Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Railway Corporation and other relevant organisations to appear on their next sitting.

“As you may be aware, this committee will not hesitate to invoke the relevant constitutional provisions if any head of ministry, agency or department fails to honour the invitation of this committee.

“We can issue an arrest warrant and direct the relevant security agencies to bring such person here,” he said.

He noted that improper management of government assets through public Private Partnership and Concessions has been one of the major challenges in infrastructure development.

It would be recalled that the House of Reps through its resolution in Feb. mandated the committee on Public Assets and Special Duties to probe Public-Private Partnership initiatives and concession agreements across the country.

The committee noted that in spite of initiating several PPPs and concession programmes, the outcomes have been mixed, with some projects stalled and others failing to yield anticipated results.