The Nation Newspaper

Tag: rage

  • Road rage

    Road rage

    •Time for FRSC to reappraise its mandate in road safety

    Although quite typically short on finer details, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC)’s 10-year observed trend (2001-2010) of road accident fatalities is revealing in a number of ways. Aside posting an alarming average of 11 deaths per day over a 10-year period, the first indication is that road accidents, despite the hue and cry about efforts to stem the carnage, have remained a potent source of avoidable deaths in the country.

    The short take is that a record 64,000 Nigerians died through road accidents within the 10-year period. In 2001, the dead numbered 9,946; in the following year, it came down to 7,407 and even further down to 6,452 in 2003. Although, the number of deaths rose marginally to 6,661 in 2008, it fell to 5,693 and 4,065 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The following year, that is 2011, the number of deaths was given as 4,372.

    What the figures suggest is that rate of fatalities have declined, albeit, marginally, during the 10-year period. Much as we have no basis to deny that the trend may have declined somewhat in the years as reported, to the extent that the figures represent only those captured by the commission, that is, those officially reported to it, there are good grounds to suggest that the fatality figures may have been grossly understated.

    Even at that, the situation is just as worrisome. Worrisome because most of these fatalities are not only avoidable, they are actually preventable.  If the development offers any indication, it is of the fact that the awareness created, not to talk of the resources poured into road safety management over the years, has not delivered much in terms of enthroning a safe driving culture.

    Of great concern is the state of our highways as a major cause of the fatalities. To describe some of our federal highways as gateways to hell is certainly no exaggeration. When vehicles are not falling into giant craters with attendant loss of lives, motorists are left at the mercy of the men of the underworld known to choose dangerous spots to strike. Two separate incidents come to mind here – the one along the Benin-Sagamu expressway and the other along the ever busy Lokoja-Abuja highway where the men of the underworld struck, leaving scores dead in either case.

    Be that as it may, one component of the road safety management issue often overlooked or understated is the moral hazard on the part of motorists. The hazard could range from drunkenness, over-speeding and other forms of anti-social behaviours by motorists. Of particular interest are the commercial drivers who increasingly see the niceties of road culture and the attendant regulations not just as something they can trifle with, but also scoff at.

    A way forward is for the nation to consciously evolve a road safety culture. In this regard, the federal and state governments may have to take another look at the current structure and institutions of road safety management. The states in particular need to revamp their Vehicle Inspection Offices as part of overall efforts to enforce traffic regulations as well as other road safety standards.

    One of the core questions we need to address is how the FRSC has over the years veered from its core mandate of ensuring road safety to becoming a Jack of all trades and master of none. It is bad enough that it claims proprietary rights over issuance of driver’s licence under a federal set-up, it has also monopolised number plates production – functions that states licensing offices are better placed to execute. The problem here is that this disproportionate attention by FRSC to issues of driver’s license and number plates is what appears to have hobbled its capacity to discharge its road safety functions efficiently. It is partly responsible for why the commission has not been able to invest in the sorely needed road safety infrastructure on the highways. It’s about time the FRSC returned to the highways where it is more needed as against its men’s ubiquitous presence in the cities doing routine traffic control.

     

  • Ekiti varsity’s days of rage

    Ekiti varsity’s days of rage

    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.”

     

     

  • A student’s rage against the West

    A student’s rage against the West

    Emillia Uupindi, a Namibian undergraduate, won the maiden Africa Regional Inter-Collegiate and Inter-University Debate on Human Security held at the Obasanjo Presidential Library at Oke-Mosan in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

    The event was held to mark former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s 76th birthday. It drew participants from 32 universities in Africa.

    To Emillia, a Computer Science student of the University of Science and Technology, Namibia, the topic of the debate: Threats to human security in Africa are self inflicted and not induced by the West, which she argued against was in a way connected to the situation in her country.

    Perhaps, this explains why she spoke with a tinge of vehemence while making her points drawing endless applause from the guests and participants.

    “The first argument is propaganda,” said Emillia as she argued against the motion. “I refer to the propaganda the Western media is using on Africa. Basically, everything affecting Africa, including our problems and the solutions are defined by the West. But the question is: Is it for our own benefit or theirs? The other is that Africa’s economy has a good potential in terms of resources, but we don’t have the skills and infrastructure. We don’t have the machines to process the minerals that will give us those products that will boost our economy. So, we are actually dependent on the West and through that, they control us and control our leaders.”

    Emillia continued: “Now in Africa, the grants are being given to our universities by European Union without stringent process. That on the surface is deemed to be help, but on closer look, it is another colonisation. Then, we are also looking at the issue of foreign aids which are not given to us on a platter of gold. There are a lot of laws of contracts in Africa, including Namibia guiding these aids. Sadly, many of our leaders didn’t read or understand some of the clauses inserted in the contracts when negotiations were being made. Unfortunately, our leaders realised this rather too late and now, they cannot get out of the trap, which will make their people subservient to the imperial moneybags.”

    She said if the West had not induced African leaders with the conditional aids, the continent would not have been embroiled in the security and economic quagmire it found itself presently.

    Insisting that African leaders are gullible, Emillia said: “Like in Namibia, chunk of the country’s land mass does not belong to native people. We are a people struggling; we don’t have a little land to live, not even a farm. Owning a small residential land is even a risk. We have a lot of white people owning the land. Secondly, if you look at the economy of Namibia, all businesses belong to the white. The white people own the firms; not even the government owns up to 50 per cent. If you look at the agricultural sector, Namibia is very rich in fish which used to be the preserve of the natives. But then, the white are now penetrating into the market. We are not only competing against the whites, we are also competing against the Chinese because they also now own land owners more than the Namibians.

    “The construction industry in Namibia is powered by the Chinese. They are the ones that get government tenders. And because China gives loans to the government to carry out its programmes, Chinese people are able to control our leaders. So how do I, as a native, survive in my continent of birth when contracts are given to outsiders? In all these, the West cannot be exonerated. They have seen that everything is in Africa, but in their countries, they don’t really have many resources.”

    Emillia became more agitated when she said the West cornered Africa’s natural resources and converted them into finished products and sold to Africans at unaffordable prices.

    “They are selling jewelry to us; where did they get the gold? They are bringing cell phones to Africa, where did they get the materials? We are buying their processed fishes and beefs, where did all those come from? Africa has it all. Uranium is a material that is vital in the manufacturing of weapons. Africa does not make weapons, the West does. But the 97 per cent of uranium deposit is in Africa. So the West has realised that in order for them to stay in control, they have to get our key resources,” she argued.

    Emillia described Africans as sheep, who hardly resisted oppression. She said from time to time, concerned Namibians team up and hold conferences to brainstorm on the nation’s challenges. She quickly added that such forums usually ended up in fiasco.

    “Namibians are people who take things as they are. For them, life continues. We still have that colonial mindset when you have to take whatever is given to you by your rulers,” she lamented.

    Though it’s her first visit to Nigeria, but Emillia said she learned a lot from the programme, including her renewed passion for African unity. “One lesson I am taking back home is to promote unity in Africa,” she said excitedly.

  • Rage over First Ladies’ house

    Rage over First Ladies’ house

    Joe Agbro Jr. in this report captures the rage that has trailed plans to build a N4 billion Africa First Ladies’ Peace Mission headquarters in Abuja

     

    plans to build a N4 billion Africa First Ladies’ Peace Mission headquarters in Abuja is the subject of a raging controversy allegedly rooted in an age- long political battle.

    Already, many rights groups have wondered if the scheme would not constitute profligacy on the part of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

    All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), in its reaction to the proposed scheme, said in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Emma Eneukwu, that the move to build the Africa First Ladies Peace Mission House with public funds is illegal.

    ‘ANPP believes that the matter is a non-issue as the budget for the complex is inherently illegal and should not waste the time of the distinguished senators in their work.

    ‘The fact on ground is that the Federal Government has already declared that the African First Ladies, Peace Mission is a non-governmental organisation and could not be funded with the taxpayers’ money.

    The N4bn proposal was contained in the FCT’s N253bn budget for the 2013 fiscal year currently before the National Assembly.

    The ANPP statement further said, “our party finds it puzzling, absurd and incongruous that another project of the AFLPM could now be smuggled into the budget of the FCT, an undeniable burden to the already burdened citizens of our great nation.”

    The party wondered why the FCTA decided to fund the AFLPM building project to the detriment of Nigerians in need of different people-oriented projects. It also charged the members of the Senate to reject the budget provision.

    On its part, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) described it as ‘outrageous imprudence.’

    The CPC National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, declared that the budget in itself was a demonstration of the present administration’s profligacy.

    ‘It is appalling to see budgetary allocation as much as N4bn for the office of the First Lady that is not recognised by the nation’s constitution,’ CPC said, adding: “At a time when many Nigerians have been rendered homeless by the anti-people stance of the PDP-led FCT administration, it is ludicrous to imagine that, rather than embarking on projects in alleviating the afflictions, this clueless regime has again shown its undisguised self-centredness.”

    Also speaking on the issue, Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre, Mallam Awual Musa-Rafsanjani, said, ‘the allocation was an insult to Nigerian taxpayers.’

    However, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has come out to defend the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) N4bn funding of the Africa’s First Ladies, Peace Mission building.

    A statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, condemned CPC and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for criticising the N4 billion for the First Ladies, Mission, explaining that the building was not for Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.

    As Metuh argues, the complex, on completion, is to host the AFLPM which has the backing of the African Union as an instrument for championing women and youth development.

    “The Peace Mission House is a public institution, a building in the likes of the Women Development Centre (WDC), Nigerian Cultural Centre, among others, which the law empowers the FCTA to build and operate in provision of facilities for the advancement of its development efforts.

    Defending its position, a statement from the office of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister reiterated PDP’s arguments and absolved the office of the Nigerian First Lady from the alleged profligacy.

    ‘As part of its efficiency measure,’ the statement said, ‘the FCT Administration saw in the proposed headquarters of the African First Ladies’ Peace Mission building an opportunity to save cost by using the AFLPM building to serve multiple roles in providing office accommodation as well as housing not just African First Ladies’ Peace Mission but other international bodies as well.’

    It added, ‘the FCT administration has statutory duty to build for the good of the public edifices such as the Women Centre, National Hospital for Women and Children (now National Hospital) and the current Nigeria Cultural Centre and Millennium Tower that is being built at the cost of 62 billion naira by the FCT Administration.’

    Most Nigerians are yet to be convinced. Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, simply said, ‘It’s just a proposal. The National Assembly has not passed it, and I am sure the senate has already handled it (the proposal) well. It’s not going to pass through. And if it passes through, it is going to be challenged because it is illegal.’

    Political watchers and insiders at the corridor of power in Abuja, who responded on the condition of anonymity however told The Nation that the controversy is further fuelled by the political power between Dame Patience Jonathan and the former First Lady, Alhaja Turai Umaru Yar’Adua over the land. Some of them alleged that Turai and her supporters have not let go and are behind criticism.

    It would be recalled also that in July 2012, the African First Ladies Summit was enmeshed in a controversy following reports that the federal government bought 200 new super cars for the summit. Then, the AFLPM had refuted government’s involvement.

    As the controversy rages, Patience Jonathan and Turai Umaru Yar’Adua are carefully keeping mute over the matter.

     

  • CONTROVERSIAL PENALTY: Enyeama, Mikel rage at Egyptian ref

    CONTROVERSIAL PENALTY: Enyeama, Mikel rage at Egyptian ref

    Super Eagles stand-in skipper, Vincent Enyeama and John Obi Mikel at the end of 90minutes raged at Egyptian ref for awarding a soft penalty to Zambia’s which Kennedy Mweene converted in the 85th minute to hand his team a point for the Chipolopolo.

    The Eagles duo while exchanging pleasantries with the Copper Bullets players to show spirit of sportsmanship confronted the Egyptian ref to voice their displeasure over his call to award a penalty to the AFCON 2012 defending champions.

    Enyeama stressed to the ref that it was a fifty-fifty ball challenge more so Zambia’s Mayuku did more of the shirt pulling and not Onazi.

    The ref rebuffed Enyeama and Mikel claim by walking away to the dressing room with his assistants.

  • Intrigues, rage in high places

    Intrigues, rage in high places

    Nuhu Ribadu seems so unlucky.

    When the former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) chief was asked to head the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force, he was obviously excited – not in anticipation of any material reward; it was all in his remarkable passion for fighting corruption. He did the job with all his heart, but now he must be feeling awful, ruing the day he signed up for it. The assignment has become a subject of bitter acrimony between the committee and the government on one hand and between Ribadu and some members of the team on the other.

    I do not remember the last time such a seemingly simple job turned into an open show of recriminations. It was shameful watching Steve Oronsaye and Mallam Ribadu exchange verbal blows right in front of television cameras-like kindergarten pupils brawling over a cup of ice cream. On Oronsaye’s side was Ben Otti, who joined the former Head of Service to pillory the report as if it was all rubbish that was not worthy of the paper on which it was written.

    Was the government and its troubled baby, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), expecting a clean bill of health from the Ribadu Panel? Would the Presidency have come so hard on the panel, if its report had read like a romantic poem written by a love-struck man to the woman of his dream, despite the hard facts and figures? If Oronsaye and Otti disagreed with the process, how about the content? Where is their own report, the one with a flawless process? What protocol allowed Oronsaye to publicly disagree with the chairman in so theatrical a manner and right in the presence of the President? Did somebody have prior notice of the drama? If Oronsaye did not participate in the committee’s work – he said he was away overseas – on what basis was he attacking the report in such a blistering manner? Ego? Just playing the spoilsport? I doubt whether the respected former civil servant will do that. But then, why?

    The committee submitted a “final report” to Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke. She said it was no final report because another committee had to look at it and get the government’s input before it could be said to be the final report. What is that? Does that obliterate the existence of those scary facts and figures?

    Consider these: 47 oil companies owing the Federal Government royalties; $5,830,261 recovered; $3.027billion outstanding; N86.6billion underpayment to the government’s purse in 10 years and more. Add these to the blazing N382billion petrol subsidy scam. Shouldn’t we be ashamed of our impetuosity? Or is it all part of the barefaced official robbery that has kept Nigeria toddling and bleeding since 1960?

    Dr Doyin Okupe did more harm than good when he followed the Oronsaye line to lampoon the report and its authors. But, why leave the message to go after the messenger? Whose story sounds more believable? Does the Okupe railing, coming days after the President had promised to consider the report because, according to him, the government has nothing to hide signify a change of mind? I hope not; the implication will be, to put it mildly, bad for the administration.

    Seen Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala recently? A crowd of policemen, secret service agents and others has woven a security ring around her. It is alleged that the Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister’s life is under threat from oil barons who feel threatened by the probe of the multi-billion naira subsidy scam that has thrown up a long line of suspects, including the sons of the rich and the powerful. The matter is said to have caused some resentment in the cabinet, with some members believing that the government should not go all the way to punish those indicted and others insisting on justice. We are watching.

    It is not only the oil sector that has got Nigerians wondering: where lies our hope? The other day in Abuja, the swearing in of Court of Appeal justices – a simple ceremony, ordinarily – became a complex anti-climax when Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofo was denied her turn to take the oath. Chief Justice Aloma Mukhtar would not allow her because of her state of origin. She is, by marriage, from Abia and by birth from Anambra. The CJN was mindful of the Federal Character principle. Good.

    For how long are we going to carry on this way, killing talents in the name of a federal policy that is all controversy and no character? I do not blame Justice Mukhtar for playing it by the book. But, shouldn’t somebody have told Justice Jombo-Ofo to stay away from the ceremony? If she has worked in Abia for 14 years, isn’t she eminently qualified to be in the Court of Appeal on account of that? If the state government, which has expressed some anger over the development, says she is its nominee, shouldn’t that be enough? Would anybody have questioned her elevation based on state of origin? I doubt it.

    I am sure our lawmakers have seen this discomfiture and will do something about it. That is why the battle for true federalism and all its corollary of fairness, justice and equity will keep raging. Any system that fails to recognise skills and talents because of the origin of the person endowed with such will surely collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. Well, the Constitution Review Committee has its work cut out for it.

    In Sokoto State, it was a different kind of anger; executive anger. For some time, Wamakko, the village from where Governor Aliyu Magatarkada Wamakko hails, had been in darkness following a long power failure. The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) manager, Moses Osigwe, was summoned to the Government House where His Excellency whipped out a horse tail (koboko) and dealt the poor man some hot lashes. He then handed him to riot policemen who descended on him like hungry wolves. They turned him into a punching bag, hitting him hard, until the man collapsed.

    Not satisfied, His Excellency summoned two more officials of the company. They got the same treatment as their senior colleague.

    To Wamakko’s aide Sani Umar, it was all in a day’s job at the Government House; nothing to worry about. Nothing unusual. He said the governor’s village had suffered power outage for over one year. Wammako, according to him, gave PHCN N17million for a new transformer but the equipment was not supplied. His Excellency was furious. Right. But why did he take the law into his own hands? Why the jungle justice and utter lack of decorum that goes with his office? Is it legal for PHCN to collect cash for transformers? Why did His Excellency encourage the officials to collect the money – if, indeed, he handed them the cash? What kind of transformer was he paying N17million for? A golden one?

    Osigwe should go to court to demand compensation for this reprehensible abuse of his person. If Wammako can’t be sued because of his immunity, his accomplices should be made to face the law. Being a governor’s guard is no licence for savagery; is it?

    The local Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has demanded a public apology, threatening to teach His Excellency and his henchmen how to relate to fellow human beings. It should get it. Otherwise, those in whom power has been vested will continue to abuse it, taking us all back to the jungle. Should we allow them? Never!

    Abubakar Olusola Saraki (1933-2012)

    Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, was throbbing with dignitaries yesterday. They came to witness the end of an era in the state’s politics. It was the funeral of Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki, former Senate Leader and godfather of Kwara politics, who passed on yesterday in Lagos.

    The elite outside his camp may not like his politics – that isn’t strange – and his confidence – some call it bravado – but one fact remains incontestable: Dr Saraki was in control of Kwara politics for more than 35 years. No break. He loved his people. His people loved him. Oloye (the chief), as he was fondly called, understood their aspirations. Many made the hajj on his ticket. He wanted to be president, but never made it. Even then, his political stature did not shrink.

    From the first day till the end, the late Saraki never lost touch with the grassroots. He built a solid political structure. He was consistent and loyal to his people. That is the lesson of the Saraki school of politics.

     

  • Day of rage at Ekiti varsity

    Day of rage at Ekiti varsity

    Who drove the vehicle that knocked down the late Teslim Adebola Ibrahim in front of his hostel? This is the poser staff and students of Ekiti State University (EKSU) are seeking an answer to.

    Last Wednesday, the 400-Level student of Accounting was said to be playing with his friends around 9:30pm outside his hostel on Wise Avenue, off Osekita Road, Ado-Ekiti when he was knocked down by a hit-and-run vehicle. He died 48 hours later.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Patrick Aina, visited the scene and appealed to students for calm.

    Eyewitnesses said Teslim fell on his head. He was said to have been rushed to the Ikere Specialist Hospital, where he was admitted for two hours. From there, he was transferred to the Ondo State Specialist Hospital for skull examination.

    At Ondo, CAMPUSLIFE gathered that Teslim, who was writhing in pain, was referred back to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital from where he was brought. By then, his condition was said to have worsened and he was referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). He died last Friday before he could be taken to Lagos. The deceased, according to a medical report, suffered brain damage, which led to internal bleeding.

    Following Teslim’s death, his colleagues protested what they called his “killing”.

    The students torched vehicles belonging to the school and destroyed properties worth millions of naira.

    They also looted the university’s poultry farm. The protesters destroyed cars and other items at the Health Centre.

    The protesters moved from the Health Centre to the auditorium, Odua Hall, and the gate. It took the combined efforts of mobile policemen and the school’s security operatives to stop the hoodlums who wanted to burn down the Aministrative Block. Livestock said to have been looted from the poultry included chickens, sheep and rams, pigs, rabbits, goats and eggs. The management closed down the school.

    On what led to the incident, a student, who craved anonymity, said it might probably be a continuation of a cultists’ war. Teslim was said to be a member of Eiye Confraternity which has been at war with other rival groups on campus.

    “The late Teslim may have been deliberately knocked down by members of rival groups fighting for supremacy with Eiye group,” the student said.

    Another source said Teslim was knocked down by the vehicle of a government official, who came to drop an acquaintance.

    The President of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), Adeoye Aribasoye, a Law student, said the late Teslim was knocked down by a hit-and-run vehicle. “When he was knocked down, a good Samaritan, who was driving in an Irepodun-Ifelodun Local Government car, stopped to carry the victim to the hospital. In the process, he was surrounded by students, who thought he was the one that hit their colleague,” Adeoye said.

    He added: “The incident did not happen on campus but management paid all the hospitals’ bills. This shows that the authorities did not want the student to die. But, unfortunately, we lost him.”

    Adeoye said it was not true that students looted the poultry farm.

    Adetutu Tolulope, a student, said: “Teslim played with everyone in a peaceful manner.”

    A friend of the deceased, who did not want his name in print, said: “Teslim was my close pal and I remember my first day of initiation; he was so welcoming and was always ready to help.”