Boko Haram activities in Borno state have adversely affected the number of applicants for admission into the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) this year. Worried parents prefer to send their children and wards to other states for study.
However, the university revealed it would approach the military at the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army with a view to providing military escorts for all the vehicles conveying students back to the campus once the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) calls off its strike.
“This is the first time that we are faced
with very low applications for admission,” a source at the UNIMAID
disclosed to LEADERSHIP on conditions of anonymity.
“The current list of those that applied
for admission for the next academic session shows they are not more than
3,000, as against the over 8,000 applications we normally processed in
the past years. This number could drop by the time those who do not meet
requirements are sorted out,” said the academic staff member.
The source said the university, which is ranked among the best in Nigeria, may suffer student deficit, just as some of the returning students who feared for their lives have applied and secured their transfer to other universities in the country.
Obviously, there is a growing fear amongst parents and students over how they would be returning to the campus if the ASUU eventually calls of its strike.
Ahmed Muhammed, the Chief Information Officer of UNIMAID, said the university management has already put plans on ground to ensure that returning students are transported back to the campus under tight security escort.
“We have been liaising with the authority
at the 7th Division of the Nigerian Army, who would assist our
returning students to cross the flashpoint zones of the highways and
ensure they arrive on the campus safely when the time comes. The VC is
very much concerned about the safety of the students because it is not
every one of them that can afford to arrive by flight.”
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