By Ikeddy ISIGUZO
Does President Muhammadu Buhari know that Nigeria is now building a N64 billion fence around the University of Maiduguri? Does he also know the Federal Executive Council had approved the construction of a perimeter fence for the same University at a cost of N2.4 billion?
Radio Nigeria in February 2020 reported that Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, told the media at State House, Abuja, about the Federal Executive Council’s approval of the construction of a 23.7 kilometre perimeter fence around the University of Maiduguri at the cost of N1,398,350,004.27 with a completion period of 24 weeks.
“It also approved the procurement and installation of security equipment around the fence at the University of Maiduguri. The amount of the contract is N1,088,646,602.28 at the completion period of 24 weeks,” said the Minister.
Is it the same 24-week contract that spiraled from N2.4 billion to N64 billion? The 23.7 kilometres fence has also become 27.3 kilometres. Are still discussing the same University of Maiduguri?
Has the Federal Government founded another University of Maiduguri in the course of the COVID-19 lockdown?
The Federal Government had already begun the construction of 27.3-kilometre perimeter fence for the university, The Punch reported, quoting the university’s Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Dr Dani Mamman. According to Mamman only the western and southern part of the campus were initially fenced.
“The UNIMAID perimeter fence is still being constructed. The Federal Government approved N64 bn for the construction of 27.3-kilometre perimeter fence for UNIMAID. That place is very porous. The ASUU UNIMAID wrote to the Minister of Education through the ASUU president after an explosion during which we lost a professor and seven other staff,” Mamman said.
Is it not the same Minister of Education that told the media in February 2020 that N2.4 billion was approved for the same fence that Mamman mentioned? What changed in the last six months that pushed the cost from N2.4 billion that the Federal Executive Council approved to N64 billion? Was the COVID-19 lockdown responsible for the new cost?
Security situation in Maiduguri has been intense for years. Among the places that have been attacked is its university. The 45-year-old University of Maiduguri that proudly counts Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Senator Chief Whip Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu among its products, is partially fenced. Something has to be done urgently.
Will the Senate object. Who will? If anyone does will it matter?
There have been several attacks on the university, among them a January 2017 attack that killed a professor, seven others, and injured 15 people. There is no proof that the attacker did not pass through the gate. There have been other foiled attempts.
University of Maiduguri has a 27-kilometre stretch that would consume the N64 billion.
A fence is important for the university. However, spending N64 billion on a fence is a waste for so many reasons, one of which is that it would not stop the attacks on the university.
There is no value a fence of that cost would provide that drones cannot give at a fraction of the cost. Technology has obsoleted this manner of thinking.
Drones are available. They will make supply dispassionate information. They can be equipped to attack invaders, in case dealing with the terrorists is still of interest to decision makers.
The 27-kilometre length will have specific needs drones can give better results than double the budget for the fence. Drones would be more efficient in this assignment. For N64 billion they can be deployed across more parts of Nigeria, not just schools. They can be helpful on the highways where Nigerians are attacked daily.
Should the University of Maiduguri not be able to build drones that can handle its security challenges and those of the North East? Can we not assign this task to Nigerians, including researchers outside the universities? With less than N100 million some Nigerians can build the drones.
But what makes the security of the University so important that the fence alone would swallow N64 billion, after it was initially to cost N2.4 billion? What is the annual budget of the University of Maiduguri for research to manage poverty in the North East? Does poverty not hugely account for the ease of recruiting prospective terrorists and the facility with which they compromise security?
A Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Maiduguri, Prof. Isa Marte Hussaini, last October lamented government’s failure to fund Research and Development. His keynote address titled: ‘Science as Driver of Development: The Importance of Communication,’ at the launch of the African Science and Literacy Network (ASLN) in Abuja, detailed government’s fringe interest in funding research. The COVID-19 has confirmed the matter in more frightening perspectives.
What happens when the terrorists blow up the fence? Will we build another one, costlier, more sophisticated? When will we die poverty in our thinking? How do we guarantee that the terrorists would not be the ones building the fence?
The Senate should investigate the University fence. If nothing, the findings can provide the type of entertainment that Nigerians have not had for decades.
Has anyone thought of fencing Nigeria to keep terrorists away? Would that not be the next big project? The contract sum would run into zillions. Chinese would be willing lenders
