It was an unusual morning at the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti. Members of the university community woke up last Thursday to the fury of a students’ demonstration.
Many were shocked by the protest. As early as 6:30am, students from various off-campus hostels started moving to the main gate. The protesters arrived in batches, shut the gate and prevented staff, visitors and workers from entering.
Students living at Iworoko were the first to gather at the gate for the protest. They were about 70. An hour later, their colleagues from Osekita, Satellite Phase 1 and Phase 2 joined, carrying various placards with inscriptions such as “EKSU for sale to FG”; “Enough is enough in EKSU”, “EKSU students are not secondary school pupils”; “Our parents are poor and cannot afford to pay N100,000 at once”.
The protesters said they were registering their displeasure over the management’s policy of “no school fee, no lecture”, “the proscription of Students’ Union for two years” and the introduction of “school uniform to some faculties”.
The management asked the students to pay their full school fees, which range from N100,000 to N165,000, at once. But students pleaded with the authorities, saying their parents could not afford to pay such an amount at once.
A demonstrator, who simply identified herself as Bisola, said: “When we heard that management had introduced a ‘no school fee, no lecture policy’, we thought it was a rumour. Not many of us took it seriously until the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, Prof Olugbenga Aribisala, asked students who have not paid their school fees to leave the class. It was then we knew the management was seriousl about the policy.”
On the first day of the protest, the students planned to barricade the federal highway linking Ado-Ekiti, Ilorin and Kogi. Some of them objected to the plan, saying management and the government could send soldiers to disperse them. They abandoned the idea.
But the students caused a gridlock on the highway, urging motorists to help them beg the government and management to “pity our parents”. They wrote the plea on the windshields of vehicles.
There was a drama when some students tried to take photographs with their phones when they were being addressed by the Dean of Students Affairs, Prof I.G. Adanlawo. Security officials tried to seize their phones but students rebuffed the move, shouting “Ole (thief).”
Later, men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were drafted to forestall the break down of law and order. As the NSCDC officers arrived, students shouted: “My oga at the top”. This introduced a drama to the demonstration.
The students chanted anti-government songs, urging Governor Kayode Fayemi and Prof Dipo Aina, the Vice-Chancellor (VC), to rescind the “no school fees, no lecture” policy.
At 11am, the protesters were addressed by their colleagues, who led the protest. One of them said: “My fellow students, we are fighting a good fight; we have shown them we are not the animals they think we are. They thought we are going to come here and destroy university property, which is our property but we have conducted ourselves in a peaceful manner. Let us all go back to our respective hostels and we would be back here by tomorrow (Friday) if they do not reverse the policy.”
By 7am on Friday, the university main gate was again besieged by the protesters, causing a long queue of vehicles to the NNPC filling station, which is a few kilometres away from the gate. Teaching and non-teaching staff were left stranded. Many of them parked their vehicles at safe distance to avoid the students’ wrath.
The students brought a disc jockey (DJ), who played some solidarity songs including the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s songs. Some played basketball and football during the demonstration.
Some lecturers, who spoke to our correspondent, condemned the policy, saying it was not in the students’ interest. A lecturer who identified himself as Mr Taiwo, said: “I am fully behind students in this matter because a no school fee, no lecture policy, is absurd for a tertiary institution in the 21st century.” A professor, who craved for anonymity, said: “When I heard about the policy, I told my colleagues that it would lead to another closure of this school. If they had said ‘no school fee, no examination’, I would have supported that. But to say there should be no lecture is not good. The management must look into this and allow students to pay in installment like it is done in some other universities.”
Some past union leaders pleaded with the students to go back to their hostels. They claimed they met with the VC and representatives of the governor, who allegedly promised two weeks extension to the payment of school fee on installmental basis.
The protesters rejected the plea, saying if management was sincere, the VC would have addressed them. Students said the former union leaders had taken bribe. The protesters attacked one of the past leaders.
In the heat of the demonstration, former Governor Segun Oni passed by in a black Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), but the students did not immediately recognise his vehicle. One of the students said: “If we had known it was Segun Oni that was passing, we would have torched that yeye (useless) jeep because he is part of the root cause of our predicament”.
At 3pm, the management announced the closure of the school for two weeks. A statement directed students to go on compulsory break. The management said there would be university-parents forum on May 18 in the main auditorium.
Jide Koalwole, a 400-Level student, said: “The protest is not sponsored by anyone. It was led and sponsored by the whole students in EKSU. The protest train came from five different areas. We have been suffering in silence since the management and the state government adopted a policy of no lecture if we did not pay the school fees. We are not in primary school. We agree to a no school fee, no examination policy. The university should adopt other strategies of generating revenue but not by strangulating our parents.”
