ERC CONDEMNS CLOSURE OF
OLABISI ONABANJO
UNIVERSITY (OOU)

Governor Amosun's Action is a
Mockery of Democracy
The Education Rights Campaign (ERC)
condemns the forced closure of Olabisi
OnabanjoUniversity (OOU) by the
Ibikunle Amosun state government. We
are equally opposed to the militarisation
of the campus by the state government
which was meant to demobilise the mass
of students from organizing further
planned mass actions against the fee
hike.
We demand the immediate reopening of
the University and the meeting of all
demands of students for substantial
reduction in their hiked fees and
improved funding of the University.
According to press reports, the closure is
to "forestall breakdown of law and
order". This argument is ridiculous. It is
also a mockery of democracy. By this
closure, the message the state
government is passing across is that once
students disagree with a government
policy, the consequence would be to be
"labelled as threat to peace of the state",
the closure of their campus and the
disruption of their academics.
Governor Ibikunle Amosun should check
his language. In this era of boko haram
terror, describing ordinary students and
young people who are merely protesting
for their rights as "threat to peace" is
highly damaging to the image of these
students who are the Nation's future and
moreover, it is an insult to their parents.
The real reason the State government
closed down the University is to avoid
meeting the demands of students for
substantial reduction in their hiked fees
to an amount not higher than N50, 000.
To achieve this, the State government is
trying to criminalize the students and
prepare the ground for police arrests and
other forms of victimisation. We like to
remind the Ogun State Police Command
that this is a democracy and the use of
police to harrass students and ordinary
Nigerians fighting for their legitimate
right will not be tolerated. The ERC shall
resist attempts by the Police to arrest,
detain or victimise OOU students and
their leaders in any way.
The Amosun Government like all APC
governments has elevated lying into a
statecraft. The impression being
deliberately created that students are
violent is not true. Some weeks ago, the
students protested peacefully to the
Governors Office in Abeokuta. The first
day of the protest, some hoodlums
attacked the students while the police
watched. The next day, the police fired
tear gas at the students, arrested,
slapped and brutalised the Vice
President of the Students Union, Seliat
Ogunbiyi. It was only when it became
clear that the use of violence would not
disperse the students that Governor
Amosun now came down to discuss with
the students. At the end of the parley,
the Governor asked for a few days after
which he would invite the students
leaders to discuss how to resolve the
issues. The students promptly dispersed
and went back to their campus to await
the Governor. If the students were really
violent and could cause "breakdown of
law and order", would it have been
possible for the Governor to meet and
parley with them?
The ERC believes that the real threat to
the peace of Ogun State is the anti-poor
and dictatorial Amosun-led state
government whose pro-rich, divisive and
cynical policies on education have the
capability not only to cause "breakdown
of law and order" but also to mortgage
the future of the youths.
We hold that the forced closure of the
Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) is a
direct attack on the democratic rights of
the mass of students. We call on the
mass of students to remain resolute and
dogged inspite of all these attacks. We
demand the reversal of the closure of
the university and for the the Ibikunle
Amosun regime to meet the demands of
the mass of students.
We call on the leadership of the
Students' union in the university to
provide virile leadership to the mass of
students by organizing mass meetings of
students in main cities such as Abeokuta,
Ago Iwoye, Ijebu-Ode and Lagos where
the mass of students are concentrated. It
is only by this approach that practical
activities such as mass occupations and
protests can be undertaken. It is equally
through this approach that the struggle
for the total reversal of the fee hike can
be achieved.
The ERC supports the struggle and
demands of OOU students. The same way
we backed students of the Lagos State
University (LASU) to resist and
ultimately defeat the Fashola anti-poor
government fee hike, we shall support
OOU students until the anti-poor and
dictatorial Ibikunle Amosun-led
government of Ogun State bows to the
people's will.


educationrightscampaign..com/2014/08/erc-condemns-closure-of-olabisi.html?spref=tw&m=1

A.P.C

The reduction in school fees is APC agenda to gain votes.
It is not for the interest of the student.
Can you imagine Lagos state Government, telling the state house of Assembly to grant them more fund, just because they reduce LASU school fees.

comos: The reduction in school fees is APC agenda to gain votes.
It is not for the interest of the student.
Can you imagine Lagos state Government, telling the state house of Assembly to grant them more fund, just because they reduce LASU school fees.

Must you respond? Do you ever hear of anything called BUDGET? Pls Go Back To School.

Go and check if Amosun was the one that increased the school fees that he's reducing. It was OGD(PDP) and these Just-made Student Union activist did not do a single aluta to fight it then. Now that Amosun became merciful towards them, they started doing Oliver Twist. Even OAU, a federal school just increased their fees, their SUG members are still on Probation. So, Mr. Man, stop dragging APC into this issue. BTW, how many PDP can reduce such even for election's sake?

mogentle:
Must you respond? Do you ever hear of anything called BUDGET? Pls Go Back To School.
Go and check if Amosun was the one that increased the school fees that he's reducing. It was OGD(PDP) and these Just-made Student Union activist did not do a single aluta to fight it then. Now that Amosun became merciful towards them, they started doing Oliver Twist. Even OAU, a federal school just increased their fees, their SUG members are still on Probation. So, Mr. Man, stop dragging APC into this issue. BTW, how many PDP can reduce such even for election's sake?

Why is it when election is coming (after APC lost ekiti) he now chooses to reduce the school fees.
Lagosian are too wise for such moves,
our eyes don open!

Free free free

Always wanting it free.

eaglechild: Free free free

Always wanting it free.

Like Amosun himself didn't have it free!

Aluta Continua Victoria Ascerta