President Muhammadu Buhari has given a strong and stern warning to governing councils and management of all Federal Institutions of learning in the country to take the safety of their students serious or be reprimanded for any eventuality.
The President gave the warning through a Presidential Assessment Committee which visited ATBU, Bauchi, to assess the collapse of a pedestrian bridge on Friday and commiserate with the university community following the death of four students of the University from a collapsed metal bridge last Tuesday.
The Committee, which was led by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Architect Sunny Echono, with the TETFund Executive Secretary, Professor Elias Suleiman Bogoro among others, later entered into a session with the management and governing council of ATBU, shortly after inspecting the collapsed bridge.
While addressing the Pro-Chancellor, Ambassador Nomita Akanbi and the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Muhammad Abdulazeez, Sunny Echono conveyed the condolence message from the President, saying that he was deeply touched by the unfortunate incident that led to the loss of lives.
He said: “Mr President was deeply touched and has given a firm directive that this (what happened at ATBU) is a wake-up call for all of us in the Education sector. He sent the message across to all the Governing Councils, Vice-Chancellors of Universities, Rectors of our Polytechnics, and Provosts of Colleges of Education to henceforth
ensure that they prioritise the safety and welfare of our students.”
Echono further disclosed that based on an earlier on-the-spot assessment of the scene of the incident by officials from the Ministry including the University Technical Team that carried out physical measurement and assessments, the Committee would make recommendations to the President in order to address the immediate and projected needs of the university community.
The Permanent Secretary, therefore, called on the students of ATBU to remain calm, and assured them that safety measures will be taken before the date they are expected to resume.
