SIR: Following the indefinite
closure of Obafemi Awolowo
University by the University
management on February 23,
over students ’ resistance to the
increase in acceptance fee and
the compulsory health insurance,
there have been speculations on
when the school will be
reopened. One of the most
popular speculations is that
school will be opened after the
April general elections. Some
factions of the University Senate,
while accepting that school
should be reopened after the
convocation scheduled for March
9- 11, have supplied the
argument that since the
convocation comes barely three
weeks to the election, it is better
to reopen the school after
election so that there won ’t be
any other interruption after
reopening.
I want to clearly state that there
is no need for the management
to wait until after election before
reopening the school. If the
school is reopened after
convocation, the three weeks
before election could be used for
matriculation, reinstatement of
the Students ’ Union and
resolution of the crisis, and then
commencement of various
academic activities.
Waiting until after the general
election before reopening the
school which may be in the
month of May is an unnecessary
waste of time which does not
serve the interest of any of the
parties, especially the Students’.
Besides, 70 percent of OAU
students did their voter
registration on campus with the
implication that they will be
disenfranchised if the school
does not open before the
election.
We recall that the institution was
similarly closed during the 2003
general elections as a result of an
ASUU strike. In 2007, during the
general elections, the school was
also under closure courtesy of
the Professor Faborode versus
Akinola Saburi (the then
Students ’ Union Presdent) lecture
free week saga.
Now 2011 general elections, if
care is not taken, the school will
be under lock and key
throughout the electioneering
period.In 2007, the
disenfranchisement caused by
the university closure gave room
for the massive rigging of votes
of absent voters in the university
community. If the students are
not called back immediately after
convocation, OAU students will
be disenfranchised for the
second time and will give
another room for fraudulent
manipulations of our votes.
We call on the university Senators
to use their good offices to look
into this serious issue and
consider the possibility of
reopening the school
immediately after convocation to
avert the possible
disenfranchisement of the
students. Political parties are
also implored to ensure by all
possible means that the voice of
the 30,000 voters on Obafemi
Awolowo University campus is
heard in the forthcoming
election and their constitutional
right to vote for the candidate of
their choice is not trampled upon
by this prevailing circumstance.
• Akintujoye Eniayo I.(Peniela)
Clerk, OAU Students’ Union.OAU,
Ile-Ife. thenationonlineng.net/web3/editorial/letters/30169.html

great ife never not our life time

Alj Uche:

great ife never not our life time

Yeah, thats right!

My voter registration card is useless if the sch didnt reopen