The tragic death of a level 500 student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) has been blamed on the poor condition of the university’s health center facilities.
Ayomide Akeredolu was taken to the health clinic on Thursday night by his colleagues after he collapsed in his room.
Although the university authorities said that he was already dead when he arrived at the health center, the students insisted that he was in a coma but that they could not revive him due to the poor state of the health center.
On Friday, students organized a peaceful protest to express their anger at the poor state of the school’s sanitary facilities and what they saw as the preventable death of Mr. Akeredolu.
The protest caused a traffic jam on the Akure-Ilesa highway for several hours.
One of the protesters recounted his efforts to save Mr. Akeredolu’s life at the hospital.
“The student collapsed in his hostel (the Akindeko Residence) and was rushed to the University Health Center,” said the protester who did not want to give his name.
“Due to lack of basic services, he lost his life in the university clinic.
“We took the boy to the health center around 8:30 pm. When we got there, there was a power outage and during the whole process of giving him oxygen, CPR and injections the light was not restored. We had to use our flashlights. It is hard to believe that there is no back-up power at the clinic.”
He said the health center refused to treat another sick student on Thursday, who is the president of the Voice of the FUTA Students Union, because he was not with his identity card.
Health officials, he said, refused to treat him even though the student was in critical condition.
“The students are expressing their dissatisfaction with a peaceful demonstration and call on the government to come to their aid as there have been a number of similar incidents in the past and the demonstrations ended with broken promises,” said the student protesters.
Reacting to this development, the university management admitted that its health centers face challenges and vowed to solve them.
“According to the reports collected, Ayomide Akeredolu collapsed in his shelter and all resuscitation attempts and medical interventions, including at the health center, failed and the doctors recorded that he was brought back dead,” the institution’s spokesman said in a statement. , Adegbenro Adebanjo.
“The student was rushed to the Health Center around 8:50 pm on Thursday, August 24, 2023. They brought him dead. Efforts to resuscitate him using cardiopulmonary resuscitation and oxygen therapy were unsuccessful. He was subsequently transferred to the Akure UNIMED University Hospital by the medical staff on duty inside the University ambulance”.
He said it was understandable that Mr Akeredolu’s friends and colleagues were devastated by the sad event.
“Management joins them in mourning at this most difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with our students and the grieving family,” she said.
“May the Good Lord grant his soul eternal rest and give his family and friends the strength to bear the irreparable loss.
ALSO READ: FUTA vows to improve security after student protest
“However, due to some perceived doubts about services at the University Health Center, students embarked on a protest on Friday, August 25, 2023.
“It is important to note that the protest was not directly related to the death of the student.
“The student representatives, in a meeting with the management called at the request of the Vice Chancellor, pointed out some gaps in the process of access to health center services.
“During the meeting, management directed that immediate corrective action be taken to address the loophole and other issues raised by students.
“Corrective measures will be reviewed from time to time to ensure they are being implemented to the letter and to the satisfaction of the students.
“Once again we sympathize with the family of our beloved student and pray for comfort from the Lord.”
Mr. Akeredolu was in the quantitative analysis department and was due to start his final exams next Monday.
Read More Related News Here
Let hear it in the comment below if you do have an opinion on this; How a Nigerian student died days before final exams