Sequel to speculation in some quarters that the current power outage in the female hostel of Gregory University Uturu is as a result of neglect by the school authorities, the university management has risen to describe the insinuation as false and baseless.
In a press statement issued by the Public Relations Officer of the university, Ebubechi Iwuh, the management stated that the institution has since inception in 2012 relied on generators and solar systems to seamlessly supply power to over 3000 members of the university community.
According to the statement, “It is an established fact that the Gregory University Uturu management has for the past 10 years of the institution’s corporate existence been constrained by the absence of power from the national grid to resort to supplying light to the campus with different capacity ranges of generator sets and solar systems. This burden management has continued to bear even in the face of sky rocketing prices of petroleum products”.
She stated however that trouble began when a 500 KVA generator deployed to supply power to the entire campus broke down and efforts to repair the equipment was stalled by inability to secure parts and skilled workmanship due to threats of lockdown in the entire South East which made movement between Uturu and other towns very difficult.
According to Ebubechi Iwuh, concerted efforts had been made to restore light to parts of the campus through alternative means but unfortunately the deployed equipment began supplying more voltage of power than required and had to be shut down to avoid causing further damage to students appliances.
While reasserting the commitment of the university management to the wellbeing and academic advancement of the students, the statement appealed for understanding especially as “the unfortunate development is currently being holistically addressed to ensure realization of a permanent solution, even as management, while prioritizing the welfare of students, again reassures that very soon normalcy will be restored”.