Unilorin campus to get CCTV surveillance coverage

In its bid to strengthen the security of the lives and property of its staff and students, the authorities of the University of Ilorin will soon install Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras all over the campus.

The Director of the Computer Services and Information Technology (COMSIT) Directorate of the University, Prof. Musa Isiaku Ahmed, disclosed this last Tuesday (August 4, 2015) during the send-off ceremony organised in honour of the former COMSIT Director, Prof. Abiodun Adimula.

Prof. Ahmed said, “We intend to cover the entire campus with the CCTV surveillance equipment to prevent crime and promptly track down criminal elements on the University campus”.                     

The COMSIT Director disclosed that the Senate Building of the University had already been covered by the CCTV surveillance camera, pointing out that this, however, needs to be upgraded. He said, “We have started with some strategic places like the Senate Building. There is an existing CCTV in the Vice-Chancellor's Office but it is analogue version and it doesn't record. But with what we are planning to install soon, you can play back what had taken place six months ago”.

According to him, the installation of the new CCTV has commenced at the Network Operation Centre (NOC) and the Directorate of COMSIT is completely covered with the CCTV camera. “And we intend to move gradually to the student areas like the walkways, and the Gate”, he added.

While appreciating the good work and the enormous achievements of the former Director, Prof. Ahmed described Prof. Adimula as a dynamic leader who worked hard to make the University rank first in Nigeria.

He said, “Prof. Adimula is a dynamic leader who worked hard and developed the unit into what you can see today. So, when I came in, I continued with what he had already established. He did well and tried to carry the Directorate to greater heights. And by extension, the University was able to come first using the ICU and that was a remarkable thing for the University”.

While speaking on the tasks ahead of the Directorate, the Professor of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology said that COMSIT intends to develop the existing Server Room into a data centre. “By the time we finish this, we will be hosting the audio streaming of the University radio, (Unilorin 89.3fm) on our server and the University website. We are already in that direction and have started by getting power back-up, and dedicated transformer for the NOC, and so many other things”.

Prof. Ahmed, however, said that the Directorate can now conduct live streaming of any major event taking place on campus and not only during convocation ceremonies.

In his response, the honouree, who is now the Dean, Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Ilorin, commended the new COMSIT Director and urged all the staff of the Directorate to continue to support him.

Prof. Adimula said, “I believe the University will give him necessary support because there will be no end to funding. I'm appealing to the management to support him because the computer service is the back bone of the University. And it's going to become the back bone of administrations all over the world.”

While speaking on his achievements during his tenure at COMSIT, Prof. Adimula said that the University web ranking was raised and the web usage by the university staff increased. “When I came in, we were eight, but by the time I was leaving, we were first in Nigeria, 20th in Africa”, he said.