Abbas made the call during the 38th convocation ceremony of the university held at its new site.
He said it was necessary because, in 2023, the FG captured the university in the Federal Budget by providing a small amount of money to start the fencing.
“However, the 2024 provision for fencing in the university was removed from the budget. We are appealing to the Federal Government to please bring back the monetary provision for fencing the university for security reasons,” he said.
Abbas said, “One of the major challenges of the university, especially in New Campus where there is no parameter fencing with almost 50,000 staff and students in its register. Certainly, we cannot afford to toil with the lives of our staff and students.”
He said that despite the various challenges bedeviling the institution, the management had to take some measures to improve the security of lives and properties on the campuses.
The VC noted that the university has employed the services of the military to provide security at night in the students’ hostel and staff quarters in addition to employing the services of Nigeria Hunters and Forestry Security Services.
“Their presence on the New Campus is beginning to yield positive results. We have increased the number of outsourced security to guard new facilities or replace retired or deceased security personnel.
“We have increased the number of Civil Defence personnel, especially at the solar plants. We have secured and mounted over 500 solar streetlights. We have applied for 1,000 more.
“The greatest security challenge on the New Campus is the lack of perimeter fencing. During the last convocation ceremony, the Visitor promised to assist in that regard,” the VC said.
He congratulated the graduates for completing their studies and urged them to be worthy ambassadors of the university wherever they may be.
During the occasion, the university conferred honorary degrees to the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, and the President, African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, in recognition of their contributions to the development of the country as well as in supporting their communities.
A total of 180 students graduated with First Class Honors, 370 with PhDs and 3,770 others passed out with Masters Degrees, while a total of 11, 284 students across different faculties and departments were awarded Bachelor’s degrees from 18 faculties and the School of Continuing Education.
