STUDENTS of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, in Osun State, yesterday, shut the school entrance gates over the refusal of the management to reduce the recently hiked tuition fees.
Led by the leadership of the Great Ife Students’ Union, Abbas Akinremi, the students shut the entrance and exit gates of the school, preventing workers from accessing the campus.
They also displayed placards with different inscriptions such as ‘Education is Bleeding, No Need for Celebrating Independence’, ‘Let the Poor Breath’, ‘Fees Must Fall’ and ‘My Parents are Poor, Can’t Afford Exorbitant Fees’, among others.
Speaking during the protest, Akinremi insisted that the students would not stop disrupting activities in the school if the management refused to reduce the new fees by 50 per cent against the 15 oeer cent reduction.
He said: “What we embarked upon is protest-a-Thon, we will continue to shut the campus till the management heeds our demand. We started the protest at 7 am and it was in collaboration with the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS and the National Association of Universities Students, NAUS. We will disrupt activities across the state to attract the Federal Government’s attention.
“Though the school is on break, our students will stop at nothing towards ensuring that the 50 per cent reduction is achieved.
“The management sent an official from the ICT department to assure us that the instalment payment will be activated on the payment portal, but that is less of a concern to us. We are more bothered with the 50 per cent reduction without which, we will not stop this peaceful protest.”
We’re still negotiating —Mgt
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Abiodun Olarewaju, said the school has not foreclosed negotiations with the students’ leadership.
He, however, urged the students to peacefully dialogue rather than disrupt the activities on campus.
Olarenwaju said: “Fortunately, we decided to reduce the initial chargeable fees when the leadership of their union persistently demanded re-negotiation, we considered and we held meetings with them. We told them the 50 per cent you are asking for will not be realistic in the long run.
“The management operates an open door policy and they (students) can approach the authority for further dialogue rather than disrupting activities on campus.”
