Nigerian Banks urged to Establish Branches at Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun

Indication has emerged that students of Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE) are going through hard times due to the absence of any bank on the campus, or environs which has made it a compulsion for students to patronize the Point of Sales (POS) on daily basis when money are sent to them by their parents, guardians or care givers.

Gentechnews decided to investigate the pains and frustration being experienced by the students over the biting effects of naira crunch and the ripple effect of paying to get money from the Point of Sales (POS) agents on campus.

Some of the students approached by Gentechnews only agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, as they lamented that the absence of the banks on campus is strange because all universities have banks on their campuses or near the campuses.

“We have our bank accounts and ATM cards, but there is no bank here to do any transactions. All our transactions are done through POS and so we spend money each time our parents send money to us on POS charges. It was that bad during the naira redesign. We are appealing to the Nigerian banks to approach the school management for land to establish their branches on FUPRE Campus,” they said.

Some parents have lent their voices stressing that the challenge is not even about not having money now, but the inability of the students who have money in their bank accounts but cannot access the money they have in their bank accounts because there are no banks on campus, except to approach a POS to get money, pay school fees, dues and other charges they need to do.

“Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE) have vast hectares of land for development. I want to appeal to the school management to allow banks that will be ready to establish their branches to do so. It is a win-win situation for both the bank and the school and break the monopolistic charges of these POS operators. It will be easier for parents to send money into their wards accounts and for their wards to make withdrawals at no extra cost anytime,” a parent said.

Investigation has also shown that Federal University, like University of Benin in Benin City, Edo State have banks such as Zenith Bank, Fidelity Bank, UBA, Unity Bank, First Bank on their campuses. Other universities also have banks on campus and so FUPRE cannot be left behind.

Gentechnews in the course of this investigation sent a message to FUPRE spokesperson, Dr Boniface Oyeadi to find out why there is no banks in FUPRE in pursuance of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that gives a person, group, association or organization the right to access information from Government Agencies, Parastatals, Federal Civil Service, Private and Public sector organizations providing public services, etc, but the spokesperson Dr Oyeadi responded to the message by saying “My friend I am on leave of absence from the University.”

Gentechnews gathered that Professor Akpofure Rim-Rukeh (FNES) Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun (FUPRE), Delta State in an interview with a Correspondent of a newspaper, Lucky Uto, spoke on his first 100 days in office and stated that his dream to make FUPRE a World-Class University adding that he will strategised on ways to increase funding to university by increasing income from commercial activities through venturing into businesses such as; FUPRE Microfinance Bank, FUPRE Water, Animal Production Venture, Fisheries and Aquaculture, FUPRE Publishing House, and FUPRE Bookshop.

However, the said FUPRE Microfinance Bank is currently not on campus which could have been an add-on to this issue of not having bank on campus. This initiative should be revisited and established on campus along with other banks without delay.

Students and parents are calling on all Nigerian Banks to rise to the occasion to approach the management of FUPRE to establish their branches on the campus as a matter of urgency to ameliorate the suffering of the students in the course of making financial transactions on the campus.