The President of the University of Lagos Students’ Union, Mr. Muhammed Olaniyan, tells TOBI AWORINDE that, prior to the protests by students, the school management had been dismissive of their plight
What brought about the protests by University of Lagos students?
The protests began with all student leaders coming together to fight against the poor state of welfare of the students.
For how long have the students been dealing with these living conditions?
It has been on for a very long time, about two to three years.
What measures had you taken to address this issue prior to the protests?
We had written series of letters to the
school management to seek audience. We had been writing letters since we
got into office on December 9, last year. We had written as many as 10
separate letters, but they never responded to any of the letters.
Did you try personally approaching the vice chancellor, the registrar or any of the other top officials?
We have been trying to see them, but they did not come out to see us.
The students are alleged to
have had an ulterior motive for carrying out the protests, leading to
the closure of the school. Is this true?
That is not true. We never intentionally
wanted the school to be closed down. That was why we said students
should resume normal activities on Monday, but we don’t know the reason
behind the management saying the school should be closed down. We never
thought about it that way. All we wanted was just for the management to
listen to us so that we could make our requests and allegations known.
When did the protest begin?
It was meant to start on Wednesday and
end on the same day. It continued the following day because the
management did not listen to us. It ended on Thursday. What prompted the
protests on Friday was the arrest of the SUG’s Public Relations Officer
and me. That happened on Friday morning. The protests only continued on
Friday because of the arrests. I was not on the campus when the Friday
protests began. I was at the police station.
Were you told why you were arrested?
We asked for an explanation and that was
when they (the police) mistakenly injured the PRO. They did not give us
details. It might have been because of the lockdown of the school gate
and they were unable to open it, so they took us.
What necessitated the presence of police on campus?
That is what baffles us. I am sure you
know about violent protests and vandalism going on in other schools. Our
protests were very peaceful. Seeing the police came as a shock to me. I
was very surprised to see that the police did such things. I don’t know
why they did such.
Did the police injure any student?
Some students were injured by the police. We had to take some of them for medical treatment.
Is it true that the students locked the gate?
Yes, the students locked the gate.
What is the situation with power on campus?
It is beyond just (lack of) light and
water. Some of the other issues are our ambulance and generator. The
issue of power goes beyond light. When we talk about power, what we are
trying to say is that we are supposed to have four generators and the
spaces are available. But the management has just two there. We are
asking, ‘Where are the other two generators currently?’ There are
supposed to be two ambulances and we just have one that is available. We
are asking questions: Where are these things? Why are they not
available to us? On the hike in prices of commodities on campus, the
issue of our sports centre, and several others, we have written several
letters and I can say categorically that they have not responded to
them. The sports centre, generally, is in bad shape. Not everything is
about academics. During our leisure, we have our HODs’ Cup and the
Deans’ Cup. We even have the VC’s cup. Majority of the time, we cannot
make use of these facilities since we read from morning till evening. We
are always in classes from 8 am to about 4 pm. From 4 pm, we need the
electricity to work at the sports centre so we can make use of it.
Did the police injure any student?
Some students were injured by the police. We had to take some of them for medical treatment.
Is it true that the students locked the gate?
Yes, the students locked the gate.
What is the situation with power on campus?
It is beyond just (lack of) light and
water. Some of the other issues are our ambulance and generator. The
issue of power goes beyond light. When we talk about power, what we are
trying to say is that we are supposed to have four generators and the
spaces are available. But the management has just two there. We are
asking, ‘Where are the other two generators currently?’ There are
supposed to be two ambulances and we just have one that is available. We
are asking questions: Where are these things? Why are they not
available to us? On the hike in prices of commodities on campus, the
issue of our sports centre, and several others, we have written several
letters and I can say categorically that they have not responded to
them. The sports centre, generally, is in bad shape. Not everything is
about academics. During our leisure, we have our HODs’ Cup and the
Deans’ Cup. We even have the VC’s cup. Majority of the time, we cannot
make use of these facilities since we read from morning till evening. We
are always in classes from 8 am to about 4 pm. From 4 pm, we need the
electricity to work at the sports centre so we can make use of it.
How bad is the water situation on campus?
There is a monopoly of water by the
management. UNILAG produces its own drinking water. It is only the water
provided by the school that is sold on campus.
Has the VC acknowledged the crisis yet?
No, he hasn’t.
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