UI shut as students protest

The management of the University of Ibadan on Monday closed down the school following a protest over the issuance of students’ identity cards before the first semester examination and use of electric-powered cooking appliance in the hostels.

At a congress called by the Student’s Union on Saturday, resolutions passed included an ultimatum to the school authority to constitute the Students Welfare Board and set up a committee to look into the issue of the use of electric-powered cooking appliances in the school hostels.

The Vice Chancellor of the school, Prof. Idowu Olayinka, said that the closure followed a protest by the students and to avert a breakdown of peace on campus.

Undergraduate students of the institution were advised to vacate the campus by 6pm on Monday while the first semester examination, earlier scheduled to commence in June, has been moved to July 17.

The students took over the busy Mokola-Ojoo road, causing a gridlock while calling on the school authority to accede to their demands.

In response to the congress, a statement from the school management on Sunday however stated that contrary to the students’ claim that their requests were not taken seriously, the school authority had addressed the demands and appealed to the students to be calm and shelve the protest.

The statement read, “The expanded management of the university met with the leadership of the Students’ Union on May 28, 2017. The meeting is sequel to the resolutions passed at the Students’ Union Congress that was held on May 27, 2017. The management called the meeting in the interest of peace and the wellbeing of our students.

“The management wishes to inform students that efforts are currently being made to ensure that identity cards are produced and distributed starting from the middle of June.”

“The problem of the use of unauthorised cooking appliances in the halls is not new. Indeed, at a meeting between the university management and the students sometimes in 2014, it was agreed that cooking appliances, especially hotplates, be abolished in the halls of residence because of the huge cost of electricity to the university. Besides, the non-use of these cooking appliances is part of the agreement signed by each student before residency in the halls.”