‘What of our Wi-Fi?’ FUOYE Students Question Yet-to-be Fulfilled VC’s Promise

As this newspaper reported in July, the students of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, protested against, among other things, poor healthcare service, bad roads on campus and the unavailability of wireless network connection (Wi-Fi) which had been paid for.

Specifically, the Wi-Fi service was functional in the past sessions until the 2016/2017 academic session when the University witnessed an upsurge in the number of students admitted.

Following the July protest, the access road was tarred to an extent and the Vice Chancellor as well promised to revamp the health care services as well as ensure adequate restoration of the Wi-Fi across the campus ‘soonest’.

However, three months after, the Wi-Fi hasn’t been restored on campus. Although, the university management provided routers for the enablement of smooth research activities for the final year students and as well it is understandable that coming to an agreement with a network provider, taking into consideration the population of students to cater for, is not a day’s job.

However, the routers are exclusively for final year students and, moreover, it is over two months already– enough period for the restoration of the Wi-Fi, yet no green light.

According to a student who simply identified herself as Pelumi, the unavailability of Wi-Fi does have an effect ‘because there are a lot of courses we are offering… that we need access to internet facility and there are times I am so broke that I cannot subscribe to internet service on my phone myself.”

She further added that if there is actually access to the internet through a campus-wide Wi-Fi, there are books that would have been downloaded.

Another student known as Emerald from Mathematics also agreed with Pelumi.

He also stated that there might not have been plans to effect the restoration of Wi-Fi, and if there is, perhaps it hasn’t been funded. Furthermore, he added that there is ‘limited alawee for students to subscribe to networks that are not even good on campus’. And there is as well the need to do assignments and access e-library, he said.

Speaking to CAMPUS REPORTER, the Student Union Public Relations Officer, said he asked himself the same question about the restoration of the Wi-Fi and it is the money aspect that is causing the delay and the only thing the Union can do for now is to remind the management of the agreement.

The session is running to an end, the examination is here; some students will like to add to the lecturer’s notes through online researches, yet there is no Wi-Fi, and adding to the wounds of the afflicted students, mobile networks in the university’s host community are nothing to write home about.

However, the University Public Relations Officer, Godfrey Bakji, while speaking to CAMPUS REPORTER said the management is talking with Glo and the Wi-Fi hopefully will be in place very soon.