BY MSONTER ANZAA, BSU

For the Benue State University, the year 2012 was a year of protests. Early that year in February, students of the College of Health Sciences embarked on protests to the Government House over the non-accreditation of the University Teaching Hospital, and their consequent inability to graduate.

Numbering about 200, the students dressed in their laboratory coats, occupied the entrance to the Government House insisting on seeing the Governor, Gabriel Suswam. After a long period of negotiation and manoeuvres, the students were ushered into the Banquet Hall of the Government House where the Deputy Governor, Steven Lawani addressed them on behalf of the governor.

Chief Lawani assured the students that government was committed to to the project and admitted that if such commitment had been made at the beginning, the project would have long been completed.

Earlier, the then President of the Benue State University Medical Students Association, BESUMSA, and 400 Level student, Innocent Abah, told Lawani that the students were tired of doing nothing at the College and had decided to visit the Governor and find out things for themselves. Lawani pleaded for two weeks within which he promised the project was going to be completed.

However, before the two weeks were over, the students were back at the Government House, this time, in company of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Nicholas Ada, the Provost of the College, Professor Shima Gyoh and other principal officers.

President Goodluck Jonathan was to commission the Teaching Hospital on Friday that week, and the students had gone to the VC to protest since they believed the hospital was not ready. They were then conveyed to see the governor.

Governor Suswam lamented that the project had dragged on that long because contracts had been awarded to contractors who had no competence to handle those jobs.

He assured the students that funding was no problem as he had directed the Finance Ministry to grant express attention to requests emanating from the hospital project.

Suswam said he was committed to the project and would not let the years spent by the students be in vain. He acknowledged that more work needed to be done on the Teaching Hospital but appealed to the students to allow the President commission the hospital as that was only symbolic.