Mary Arinde, the Kwara State Commissioner for Tertiary Education said that construction works in Osi, Ekiti Local Government, have reached 98 per cent completion and are ready for use as students resume fully for the 2024/2025 academic session.
Academic sessions according to her are to begin at the Osi and Ilesha Baruba Campuses of the Kwara State University as the State Government ramps up massive infrastructural development on the campuses.
She disclosed this in an interview with journalists, explaining that the completion of the two campuses is another promise fulfilled by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who had pledged never to abandon the projects.
She revealed that students in the Department of Fine and Applied Arts under the new Faculty of Environmental Sciences begin lectures in Osi on Monday, November 18, while their counterparts from the Faculty of Agriculture are due in Ilesha Baruba Campus in January.
Arinde, who spoke in Osi on an inspection visit, expressed satisfaction with the quality of the job by the contractor and the consultant.
“From mere looking at the campus buildings, you would see that it is a job well done. And the quality is superb. Looking at the structures, we are at the practical stage of completion. More than 98 per cent of work has been done so far.
“We are currently putting the finishing touches. The major thing left is the fixing of the surroundings, and environment, including the road network, which is all ongoing.
“We have engineers and experienced consultants on this job. They are all doing well. Before the road networks started, they had to wait for the rains to subside. They are ready to put the asphalt on the roads now. Every place will also be interlocked to look beautiful, she explained.
She hailed the Governor’s commitment to the projects, despite the challenges involved at the beginning.
“I give kudos to the Governor to have put in a lot of effort and resources. The community initially lost hope that things like this could never come up again. But seeing these happening, they are overwhelmed with joy,” she said.
For her part, Binta A. Sulyman, a professor and Head of Osi campus Kwara State University (KWASU), explained that lectures commenced fully at the campus with the students of the Department of Fine and Applied Arts who are already on the ground with the staff.
She listed offices, studios, Conference Rooms, Lecture rooms, Lecture Theaters an Auditorium of 1,500/2000 seating capacity, car parks, shops, boreholes, electricity transformers, a Solar System street lights, students’ Recreational/Common Room, a CBT Computer Center, and Arts Gallery, as some of the facilities that are either already in place or are in progress as well.
Binta commended the Governor’s support, hard work, and commitments to the completion of the campus, an action she pointed out that has commitmenteared him to the host communities who are all very happy and overwhelmed.
“Staff and students of Fine and Applied Arts were already on the ground. They have secured accommodations and have started lectures. By January, more departments are coming here,” she said.
Binta said the completion of the KWASU’s new Faculty of Environmental Sciences will lead to the economic growth of Osi and its environs, even as she mentioned other academic programmes that will begin sessions in January to include Estate Management, Urban and Regional Development, Geography, Architecture, Quantity Survey and Building, among others.
“I thank the working Governor. He has been very committed to the completion of this project. The communities here are very happy to see the project completed,” she said.
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