Governor Alex Otti of Abia has ordered the authorities of Abia State University(ABSU) to demolish the dilapidated buildings housing the law and Agriculture faculties.

Otti gave the order at a two-day retreat organised by the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council, Dr Agwu U. Agwu, for the reconstituted ABSU Governing Council.

He said that the demolition of the buildings was necessary to save students from danger.

“I set up a committee and sent them to go and see how the Law and Agriculture faculty buildings are, and the conclusion of their report is that there are no buildings that could house those faculties, even when renovated.

“Vice Chancellor, you have your job cut out for you. You cannot allow students to be in those buildings because when they collapse, you will lose them.

“I heard that students read in those building; those buildings should be pulled down,” the governor said.

He said that the construction of new buildings had been approved for both faculties and that the drawings would be completed soon.

Otti promised to release funds for the faculty buildings to ensure their completion within the academic session.

He said that both faculties, relocated to Umuahia Campus by the last administration in the state, would remain there until adequate accommodation is provided.

The governor regretted that the university ranked second after its establishment after the Rivers State University in 1981, was now 37 on the ranking list.

He charged all stakeholders to do the necessary things to improve the state of things at the institution.

The Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Prof Uche Eme Uche, said that Otti inherited a broken ABSU with many malpractice stories.

Uche said that the governor constituted a Visitation Panel, which made recommendations morphed into a white paper, whose implementation formed the basis for ABSU’s transformation.

She urged the council to understand the relationship between the council and the management and their operational rules to advance the institution’s progress.

Earlier, the pro-chancellor, Dr Agwu U. Agwu, said that the retreat had selected experienced resource persons to usher in a new era at the university.

Agwu said that although ABSU had produced eminent personalities, it still lagged, stressing that much needed to be done to make it a world-class institution.

He thanked the governor for the steps taken to improve the institution’s status and sought more investment to upgrade ABSU's status.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Ndukwe Okeudo, said the governor’s commitment to educational excellence in the state was manifest in the 20 percent budget allocation to education and free education.

Okeudo expressed hope that lessons learnt from the retreat would help enhance the council's performance.