Concerns as erosion threatens Kogi college

Staff and students of the Kogi State College of Education, Ankpa, yesterday expressed concerns over the threat of gully erosion on many structures in the institution. The staff and students spoke when members of the Kogi State Assembly House Committee on Education, Science and Technology paid a visit to the institution.

They lamented that the development had put teaching and learning in the college in jeopardy and called for urgent intervention from all concerned authorities.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that among the structures worst hit by the erosion menace are the ICT Centre, Technical Education workshop, Chemistry, Biology, Applied and Fine Art laboratories which were all built through Tetfund interventions.

Speaking during the visit, the acting Provost of the college, Dr Joseph Onimisi, expressed worries that some newly constructed structures at the campus were facing “serious threats of erosion”.

“We have put in place several temporary measures to curtail it, but like a hydraheaded demon, it continues to sprout in different locations. Only recently, we tried without success to obtain a bulldozer in that respect for remediation work and contacted relevant stakeholders to no avail”, he said.

Responding, Chairman, House Committee on Education, Mr Sanni Kekere, who bemoaned the situation, assured that the Assembly would liaise with the executive arm of government to address the ecological menace threatening the institution.

On his part, a member of the committee, Mr Sunday Shigaba, described the present state of the college as “disheartening” and urged the state government to address the challenges to ensure conducive atmosphere for learning.