From Maurice Okafor, Enugu
The Enugu State government has made a passionate appeal to parents and guardians of students of Enugu State College of Technology (ESOTECH) who vacated from the institution aftermath of Wednesday,August 14, kidnap incident within the premises of the institution to come back and resume their lectures, assuring them of improved security and upgrading of facilities in the institution.
The Special Adviser to the Enugu state Governor,Barr. Peter Mbah on Health Matters, Dr. Yomi Jaye, made the plea after a meeting with the management staff and students union of the institution and other stakeholders,held at the government house over the weekend.
Governor Mbah through his special adviser on health matters,Dr Yomi Jaye, gave the colllege’s management 14 days to develop a workplan that will enable the state government to ensure that the school functions at its optimum level.
Dr. Jaye who briefed news men after the meeting stated, “We interacted with the management, staff and students of the Enugu State College of Health Technology, Orji River, to come up with a strategic plan to revamp the college and restore its lost glory. His Excellency, Governor Peter Mbah, has expressed his willingness not only to revamp the school, but to upscale it to a technology-savvy teaching community.
“As you can see, the government is bullish about building Type-2 Healthcare Centre in each of the 260 wards and this college will produce some of the qualified workers that will deliver quality healthcare services to Ndi Enugu.
“We appeal to the parents and guardians to allow the students to go back to school and resume their academic activities as more security personnel have been deployed to make sure that both Oji River and its neighbouring communities are properly secured.
“It is also important to inform you that those who perpetrated the security breach have since been arrested and the victims, which included one student, also freed,” he maintained.
In his speech, the Provost of the College, Dr. Lazarus Ezugwu, expressed happiness over the state government’s move to revamp the institution, saying he was optimistic that the glory of the institution would be restored in no distant time.
Dr Ezeugwu commended Governor Peter Mbah and the security agencies for their swift response to the recent security breach at the College. He said that security has been strengthened around the institution and Oji River in general.
His words,”The meeting is such a commendable one. It goes a long way in telling us the type of visionary leader we have in the state. To be sincere, the total overhaul that will be done in the college is going to be enormous. What is coming to the college cannot be imagined because the governor has shown both special interest and political will. This is what we have been yearning for, for so many years,” Dr. Ezugwu stated.