The Vice-Chancellor of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Prof. Ignatius Onimawo has commended the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project, NEWMAP for coming to the rescue of the university from a devastating gully.
Prof. Onimawo was speaking in his office while receiving members of Edo NEWMAP delegation who were in the University campus as part of their Implementation Mission to Edo Central Senatorial District.
The Vice-Chancellor of the Edo State-owned University remarked that gully erosion was a major threat to lives and infrastructure on campus, especially buildings that were on the waterways.
He expressed gratitude to his predecessor, the late Prof. Mrs. Cordelia Agbebaku who drew the attention of the State Government to the problem of gully on campus and called for necessary assistance.
Prof. Onimawo thanked the State Government under the leadership of Governor Godwin Obaseki for the prompt response to their distress call, culminating in the intervention by NEWMAP and expressed confidence that the remediation work would bring to an end the challenge of gully erosion in the school.
The Vice-Chancellor used the opportunity to highlight the on-going transformation in the university in the past few years, including the construction of four new faculty buildings and the ultra-modern administrative building being constructed by the State Government.
He informed his visitors of the huge success recorded in the computer-based examinations and the electronic voting system introduced for the conduct of SUG elections.
Speaking earlier, the leader of the Edo NEWMAP delegation and State Project Coordinator, Dr. Tom Obaseki informed the Vice-Chancellor and other principal officers of the University that following the official report of the gully by the former VC, the process of engineering designs and other technical details had been completed and contract awarded for the civil works.
Dr. Obaseki further informed the University officials that construction work would commence in the month of February 2020 and solicited for the support of the institution in ensuring a hitch-free intervention.
He assured the University that the contractors would deliver a quality job that would bring to an end the untold hardship and anxiety among staff and students occasioned by flood and gully erosion.
The NEWMAP delegation and the University officials later inspected the gully site where the Edo NEWMAP Project Engineer, Edwin Asemota-Ero explained the scope of scope of work.
