…accuse school authorities of neglect
Some aggrieved students of Veritas University in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, have accused the management of the institution of offering them poor services in a school allegedly devoid of infrastructure.
The students also condemned the alleged indifference exhibited by the school authorities over their complaints, saying its attitude had left so much to be desired.
They argued that inspite of the fact that a returning student running a programme in the university pay as much as N460, 500 tuition, while fresh students pay N550,000, respectively, every academic session, the school management had failed to provide them basic infrastructure, thereby making the campus unconducive for learning.
A final year student of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Augusta Inochie, told our correspondent that basic infrastructure had been a mirage since she joined the school in the past four years, as the students complaints to the management had fallen on deaf ears.
She added that all the management did was to promise an overhaul of the facilities on campus every academic year, without taking any action, eventually.
Inochie said, “We don’t have electricity most times on campus to read or do other daily activities at night. Also, we do not have water. All they tell us is that since there is no light, they cannot pump water for us to use. Yet our Vice Chancellor’s Quarters use generator every time daily. What kind of private university is that? What is the difference between us and state universities that do not have these facilities?
“The annoying thing is that the chaplains do not want students to protest or complain. They will tell us that it is not allowed in a Christian school. We want to hear from the school authorities how they appropriate the school fees our parents pay heavily each year to them.”
Another student, who pleaded anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the issue, told our correspondent about the lack of internet connectivity at the institution unlike other private universities in the country.
He said, “We pay N15,000 yearly for Information & Communication Technology charges; yet we do not have access to Wi Fi on campus. Also we do not have any ATM on campus. If we need money, we have to go out of the campus, and to be allowed to go out of school is also difficult.
“The fact is that Veritas students are angry. Our mumu don do. We, the students, have vowed that if the authorities do not address our plight, we would stop going for mass; anybody that tries to go against the order will get stoned to death.”
A lecturer in the Management Sciences Department of the university, who pleaded anonymity, disclosed that even lecturers were not happy as they were also affected by the unconducive state of the institution.
He noted that even lecturers’ salaries and allowances were always delayed and not paid as when due, thus making life difficult for them.
He said, “All they tell us is that our services should be more of service to God and humanity and not for personal gains. We, lecturers, are not happy also and anything the students do to get their demands from the school authorities, we are solidly behind them. We want to know what the management has been doing with the money being paid by students over the years, if we cannot get benefits to teach in the school. We cannot take this rubbish anymore.
“Veritas University is a Catholic University. It is high time the authorities did something. Our school is dead and to think students have graduated from here is very unfair. The fact is that some public schools are looking far better than Veritas.”
Efforts by our correspondent to get the reactions of the Head, Corporate Affairs Unit of the institution, Reverend Sister Grace Ushie, proved abortive.
Calls made to her phone didn’t go through. Also, text messages sent to her phone, as at the time of filing this report, had yet to be replied.
