to Maintain Peace
To forestall breakdown of law and order, Ogun State Government
has directed the Governing Council of Olabisi Onabanjo
University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, to close down the university
immediately.
The government also advised all parents whose wards are
students of the university to immediately call them to order as the
government will not tolerate any act that will disturb the peace
being enjoyed by the people of the state.
In a statement signed by Barrister Taiwo Adeoluwa, Secretary to
State Government, the decision to shut the university was taken
in the overall interest of peace and order as the students of the
university have continued to issue threats while rejecting all
entreaties and concessions made by the government on their
various demands concerning the recently announced reduction of
school fees.
The government had on August 12 after extensive deliberations
involving the leadership of the student unions in the 10 state-
owned tertiary institutions, heads of the institutions and
government representatives, announced reductions in school fees
by as high as 61 percent.
The government also abolished the indigene/non-indigene
dichotomy in the school fees regime and announced the
2014-2015 academic session as commencement period for the
policy.
However, while students in nine of the ten institutions
commended the government for its decisions, OOU students
insisted that the new school fees regime should take effect from
the 2013/2014 academic session and that the fees should be
further reduced.
The OOU students premised their position on the fact that they
are currently running the 2013-2014 academic session which will
end in January. They also rejected the fact presented by students
of other institutions that they are also in the same situation as
some of them will only be concluding the 2013-2014 session in
December.
The government had also sought to convince the students that it
could not afford to bear the financial implication of commencing
the implementation of the new school fees regime as it will cost
the government over N2 billion.
OOU students staged a violent demonstration in the state capital
on August 15 and it took the personal intervention of the
governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun to restore normalcy.
The governor thereafter set up an ad-hoc committee to discuss
with the students with a view to resolving the situation.
During discussions with the ad-hoc committee, OOU students
maintained their stand that the fees must be further reduced and
that the implementation must commence immediately.
The explanation that no other State in Nigeria is saddled with the
responsibility of funding 10 tertiary institutions and that to accede
to their request would mean natural death for the institutions
made no sense to them.
The student leaders were within the week sending text messages
round, urging their colleagues ‘to get ready for action’ as they are
ready to unleash violence on the state capital. Security reports
have since confirmed that because the students are acting under
external influence, no concession made by the government will be
satisfactory to them.
“Consequently, we have no option than to order the immediate
closure of all the campuses of Olabisi Onabanjo University to
protect the students and other residents of the state and their
property. We urge all parents to impress on their wards the need
to maintain peace in the interest of all”, Adeoluwa stated.
Signed
Barrister Taiwo Adeoluwa
Secretary to State Government

try to read nd feel d pains of these student