The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kaduna State University (KASU) chapter, has lamented months of power outages in the institution, calling for prompt restoration.
The chairperson of the chapter, Peter Adamu, made the call in a statement issued to journalists on Thursday in Kaduna, the state capital.
Mr Adamu said KASU was experiencing a total system collapse due to the prolonged power outage running into months.
Decrying the situation, he said it had gone from intermittent and epileptic power supply to a total blackout, ranging from seven months for the Kafanchan campus, and to about one month at the main campus.
“This precarious situation has opened up a vista of thought-provoking discussions amongst staff on the one hand, and students on the other. In all of these discussions, the indicators portend imminent academic stagnation and dangerous ends.
“There is a feeling of pessimism, hopelessness, despair, despondency and dissent premonition that if the management of the university did not redouble their efforts, the end to
this ugly situation might not be palatable,” he said.
Mr Adamu noted that ASUU, KASU chapter, being partners in the progress of the university, engaged the management and those concerned on the issue informally but could not afford to remain mute and ignore its moral responsibility at this point.
“Let it be placed on record that as we make this statement, the hostels are in a miserable condition without light and water.
Impact of power outage
Examinations could not commence in many departments and faculties on Monday, 10 October, as earlier scheduled.
“This was of course due to no power to print examination questions and other necessary sundry activities that require power.
“No one could have done any magic to salvage the already deteriorated situation,” Mr Adamu lamented.
Speaking further, the ASUU chairperson said office work had become homework as staff of KASU were forced to carry out research from home where they were sure of electricity supply.
According to him, the debilitating working conditions for staff and students have ultimately resulted in low
productivity.
He noted that ASUU was a union that cared about the working conditions of staff, living conditions and study atmosphere of students.
“It is sad that the system had been subjected to such ridicule and we foresee a huge embarrassment if the management relented in its efforts.
“This portends danger and the University’s progress recorded over the years might gravitate towards retrogression.
“Management must not allow students to go on a rampage before making an attempt to contain the problem. This, in our opinion, will be more embarrassing to the university,” he said.
He called on the government of Kaduna State to intervene swiftly to salvage the situation.
