Officials from the Anambra State University have issued a plea to the state-government for aid in powering the institute. According to the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Iheanacho Orajaka, the university would crash if it did not receive some help from the government.
Orajaka, speaking to the State House of Assembly Committee on Education during a visit to the institution, said although the state has been trying to provide some of the needs of the university, there is still much more to be done.
"Our financial base is nothing to write home about. Our internally generated revenue is mainly the school fees and all together, we charge N25,000, which is too small compared with what is paid in other institutions. So, we barely manage,” he said.
According to Orajaka a lot of things need to be accomplished at the university, but financial constraints do not allow for it. “The greatest problem here is power supply. Most of the time, we are on generators which is a way, but not a solution to our problem because we spend an average of N200,000 to maintain our two generators on a weekly basis.”
To help ease the power situation, the university has invited a solar energy company to provide solar power for the institution. “The company’s officials say they can supply us 50kva capacity and solar panel that can supply light to half of the university. If we can get the solar energy, at least we would light up the campus at night so that the students would no longer suffer the problem of working in darkness at night."