As schools across the country resume to continue with academic activities after almost seven months’ closure due to outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in not just the country, but worldwide, undergraduates in the Edo Internally Displaced Persons camp (IDP), Ohorgua, in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo have appealed for assistance.
The undergraduates who are in various levels in tertiary institutions across the country, said that the appeal became necessary because they do not want to drop out of school.
They noted that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, their educational responsibilities were shouldered by management of the camp. The camp is being managed by the Home for the Needy Foundation.
Mr Bazhigla Haruna, a 200 level Medicine and Surgery undergraduate who spoke on behalf of the other 65 undergraduates, said that except assistance comes the way of he and his fellow undergraduates urgently, their fates would be sealed as they would become school drop outs. They lamented that fate would be most painful given that they have been trying their hardest to chart a future for themselves after their horrible experience in the hands of insurgents in the North East.
Haruna said they found succour, shelter, acceptance and peace in the IDP camp when they escaped for their lives when the troubles in the North East started, adding that since then the management of the camp has been taking care of them.
He, however, said that with COVID-19 lots of things have changed around the camp, adding that they were disturbed on how to return to school for resumption with no hope of getting funds.
He disclosed that as a medical student, his tuition and accommodation for a session was N2 million.
Haruna who says he is from Borno state therefore called on the Borno state Government, as well as Governments of other states who have their indigenes in the camp as well as kind hearted individuals and corporate and multi national organizations to come to their aid.
“We have lost our homes, we have lost our families, our parents and loved ones.
“The least the Governments and society can do for us is to help us achieve our educational pursuits, so that we will be useful to not just ourselves but the society, and also those who may find themselves in the situation we find ourselves today”, he said.
Meanwhile the coordinator of the camp, Pastor Solomon Folorusho said that the camp has never had it so bad since it changed status to an IDP camp eight years ago.
He disclosed that the camp had been able to assist the inmates of the camp over the years through assistance from some few kind hearted Nigerians.
He said presently there were 66 inmates of the camp who were presently studying various courses in various institutions in the country.
He said that of the figure, 37 were from Borno state, nine from Delta, 13 from Edo, two from Adamawa, and one each from Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Taraba and Abia states.
He also disclosed that 11 were studying medicine, eight law, six nursing sciences, while others were studying pharmacy, and other courses.
He further disclosed that the tuition and accommodation fees for the students ranged from N100,000 to N2 million depending on the courses and the institutions.
He joined his voice with that of Haruna to appeal to the state governments and other well meaning Nigerians to assist the students either by way of scholarship, bursary or sponsorship to lessen the burden on the Foundation.
Folorusho said that at present, 174 inmates of the camp who were successful at the last JAMB exams were seeking admissions at various institutions of higher learning.
