By Gloria Yalakaa
The Dean of Student Affairs, Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi, Dr Nelson Orkaan Alyebo, has revealed that community service has been approved by the institution as a way of punishment for erring students.
Dr Alyebo disclosed this Saturday at his office during an interview with our correspondent while answering questions on the sanitary condition of hostels in the university.
“Recently, the university has changed some of its rules and regulations in punishment, so community service has also been approved as one of the ways of punishing any student littering the environment or defaulting, which is under the office of the Dean, Student Affairs”, he said.
“Some of the culprits we have, which are awaiting approval by the Senate, once approved, they will serve community service in the preferred areas to help clean the environment within the stipulated time of either 3-6 months as the case may be”, he maintained.
This he said, among many other ways, will be used to help improve the sanitary condition of the university. He noted that, despite the University’s strategies to have a clean environment, the institution still faces the challenge because of the large number of students living in the hostels.
Dr Alybo stressed that the number of students living in the hostels, students’ backgrounds, different home training and attitudes, especially in the aspect of cleanliness, have affected the sanitary condition of the hostels, despite the university contracting professional cleaners to clean the campus externally and interior of the hostels, students continue to litter the environment.
A 300-level student of Biological Sciences, Miss Dorcas Adzongu, lamented that the hostel environment is surrounded by a lot of dirt, which can cause infected insects to crawl into the hostel. She said it is very unhealthy and called on the school management to do more to make the hostels more habitable.
The Student Union President of Benue State University, Comrade Samuel Alechenu, stated that the Student Union has plans to declare one-day sanitation when school resumes.
“As soon as the school resumes, the Student Union will contribute by mobilizing the students on an occasional basis to engage in community service. I will also lead by example and join the students in cleaning the hostels. This is the only way the union can come in”
One of the hostels representatives, Miss Gloria Ene Ogwuche, assured that students would be cautioned on littering the hostel environment as it will make the environment to be more habitable.
