Zik’s wife laments state of Zik’s Flats hostels at UNN

By Chijioke Attah, Nsukka

The wife of the late Owelle of Onitsha and First Nigerian President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, emeritus Professor Uche Azikiwe, has lamented the state of

Zik’s flat at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Speaking to The AUTHORITY, she said the delapidation of the block of 14 buildings given to the University founded by her late husband always moved her to tears every time she saw the buildings.
She expressed displeasure that successive administrations of the premier University in the country allowed such monumental infrastructure to waste when the institution was facing acute accomodation problems.

Prof Azikiwe recalled that her late husband gave out the blocks of flat to the school as part of his investment in human capital development.
She said that since the University was not capable of maintaining the structures, the flats should be given back to her family to rehabilitate, manage and transfer back to the University.
She said it was a disservice to the name of her husband to be associated with the rot the flats had become.

Azikiwe said since her Onuiyi haven shared a common fence with the flats, she has missed the hustle and bustle and warmth of students presence in the flats.

She noted that her family had approached tye immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Benjamin Ozurumba for a possible takeover and renovation but nothing positive came out of it.
The former lecturer in the University said the family would continue to explore every possible Avenue to ensure the rehabilitation of the buildings to befit the name of her husband the buildings were named after.

She recalled that the buildings were given to the University for a token by her husband during the tenure of Prof Eni Njoku as Vice Chancellor.

The Ziks flat had been part of the hostel facilities provided by the University for students but had been abandoned over the years due to delapidation and the unfit state of the buildings for human habitation.

Dilapidated Hostels: UNN Alumni can be of help, says Prof. Omeje

Prof, Edwin Omeje, Dean Students Affairs, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), has challenged the alumni of the University to lend support to the institution, especially in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of students hostels.

In an interview with The AUTHORITY, Prof. Omeje lamented the paucity of hostel accommodation in the University, saying some of the hostels resemble prison facility.

According to him : “We want our students to live in better and comfortable conditions.

“Teaching and learning are strongly connected to environment. I cannot tell a student in Alvan hostel, even with the clean up, to keep quiet and he will obey, because they are living up to fifteen boys in a room.

“I sees the state of some of these hostels more as a prison, which is why I challenge those who had benefited from the university to come up and help rebuild and develop the institution since the best universities in the world were not run with state money but those of stakeholders”.

He attributed the state of the hostels to years of neglect and paucity of fund to do the needful, stressing that if the right strings are pulled by members of the Alumni Association of the University, as is done in other universities, the situation will definitely change for the better.
“This is the number one industry in the south east with over 600 Professors and you know what that translates to economically even with the poor salaries”, he said.