Emmanuel Awoko

It is easy to write a history when there is a united house, however, in situations where there is division, the closeness to writing one is always remote. Ever since the suspension of a one-time student Union President, by name Ojo Aderemi, the calmness on campus has been of utmost ranking, because students’ voice seems not to echo the strong agility of unionism that people like Kunle Adepeju, and George Iwilade (Afrika) from Obafemi Awolowo University and some other comrades are known for. As a result of everything that has happened in the past years, everyone is composed in their best garment to ensure that nothing brings them close to the Student Disciplinary Committee or even raises any issue with the University Management for the sake of the fact that they all came to school with a promise at home to get a certificate from the University of Ibadan.

However on July 17 around 10:20pm till around 9pm on 18th of July, 2024, the long-gone energy of unionism was resuscitated after some display that looked seemingly as though the student had lost trust in the potency of the union who had been earnestly been struggling to address the issue of hike in school fees and whether to pay or not for nearly two sessions through consolidation and negotiation attempts.

When it all started, the goal of the protest was to respond to a memo that was earlier released by the University Works and Maintenance, which claimed that the decision was already approved by the Vice-Chancellor of the University to begin a 10-hour electricity supply on campus between the hours of 8am to 2pm during the day time, as well as 10pm to 2am at night time.

Following the release which was deduced to have taken effect on that day, students reacted and took to the streets on campus to express their disagreement over the policy and its implementation. A lot of questions rolled in the air amidst the protest. The major question that however triggered the protest is centered around the purpose of the hike in school fees, and which keeps increasing astronomically every session. Some other questions bother on the purpose of the bundled fees which students are expected to pay, and also the utility fee which is supposed to cover electricity and some other basic needs of a student on campus. 

The bitterness in student reactions also generates the comparison of life in the school hostel and the life of students who stay off campus in places like Agbowo and Ajibode where students have to live in different forms of inconvenience. Some others made a comparison between the fees of private and state institutions in the country, to federal government-owned institution which seems to have been commodified to become a private enterprise because the Nigerian government has reduced the supply of funds for the finance of the educational sector.

This has been one of the outcries of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over time and which to date has not been responded to. An article published on Premium Times online newspaper on the 23rd of December, 2023 reviewed the 2024 budget, and according to the review, the allocation given to education is below the recommendation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), and even the allocation for this year 2024 is even below that of the previous year which visibly has not settled the matter of educational funding. According to UNESCO, the allocation for education is supposed to be within the range of 15-20 percent of the annual budget, instead, the budget is less than seven per cent and with a total budget of 8.8% for the educational sector. However, the plan of the government is to make students apply for student loans in order for them to sustain their studentship. 

It is however visible that a lot of indigent students have not been able to pay the school fees of the last session, and even there are a lot of complications across for some students who do not know how they can raise the funds to pay their school fees when even the economy is failing and everything seems to not be working right. Many students have only been surviving life because of bursaries, grants, and scholarships which they sometimes win. It is however so sad that many students are the ones striving to fund themselves when the might of their parents cannot cover an inch of what will earn them this first degree that they have embarked on.

Following the honest agitation which notably was a peaceful protest, the students visited every nook and cranny of the university from hostels to hostels, the university gate, faculties, and even the Registrar’s lodge as well as the Vice-Chancellor’s lodge. Movement of transportation was also scrapped for the day, and lectures were canceled so as to achieve their goals. It is however on record that no form of violence was recorded from every dimension that the protest spread into on campus. 

After all the movements and demonstrations, all students who came out converged at Trenchard Hall to ensure that their needs were clearly heard and attended to. While this was being done, another set of students manned the main University Gate and among them witnessed the coverage of British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC}, the Guardian, PunchNG, Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State{BCOS}, and many others who echoed the voice and clamour of the University of Ibadan students on the media space through their reports.

The protest would not have come at all if there was no blackout in hostels, and every other places on campus. However, owing to the blackout, students reacted and this built up some key requests which are:

• There will be neither lecture nor transportation with the school premises on the 17th of July, 20224. 
• The mass action will continue on July 17 starting from 5am. The Union officials must make available all union resources, including THE ALUTA JET, Public Address System, and the Student Union officials must be present to join the mobilisation effort towards this. 
• The school authority in association with maintenance must withdraw the memo on electricity rationing, dated 16th of July, 2024, and in addition, there must be a constant power supply within the school effective immediately. 
• There must be a total reversal of all fees, and not Reduction, Those that have paid must be refunded.
• The Students’ Union condemns the ongoing victimisation of three students of the University of Ibadan, Aduwo Ayodele, Olamide Gbadegesin, and Nice Linus, who embarked on a peaceful protest on the 13th of May 2024 and as such, call for an end to the victimisation.

All these requests which summed up into a protest witnessed at least 30-50 per cent of the University of Ibadan Students with a common goal because the recent minor one which happened had only led to students being mal-handled by the University Security before they were later handed over to the Operation Burst. It did not end there, reports from the Union of Campus Journalists, and some other media outlets revealed that these students were invited by the University Management on the accusation of gross misconduct acts, and unruly behaviour in the presence of the Vice-Chancellor and other members of the University management. The invited students were then asked to forward their responses and supporting documents to the University stating why disciplinary action should not be taken against them over the allegation, however, according to the letter, failure to respond to the query within the stipulated time may eventually result in automatic suspension of their studentship.

Therefore, in the heat of the protest and the insistence of the students, the acting Vice- Chancellor, Prof. Peter Olamakinde Olapegba who is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Administration came out to address students, after they had a prolonged in-house discussion with the Students’ Union leaders, and some available stakeholders on campus. His presence however was accepted because of the absence of the Vice Chancellor of the University who had travelled out of the state and who may not be returning until Friday. Owing to the urgency, he spoke to students and addressed all matters that were raised, including those that were debunked based on the school’s protocol and order. However, the student body still stood their ground with the claim that feedback with a granted resolution would be appreciated. To this, the University made it known that there will be a reconvening of the meeting, in a bid to attend to the urgent request, and further, the students will be informed before the end of that day. 

Later in the afternoon, the University management, some student stakeholders, and the student union executives had another in-house discussion to finalise the requests of students who had been gyrating and protesting since 5:30am. Then, after the meeting, the students’ union President, Aweda Bolaji, alongside the erstwhile Union President, Samuel Oluwatobiloba addressed the students on feedback of the resolutions of the meeting which they had with University management. In accordance with the Union’s release afterward, below are the resolutions:

• The management will immediately release a memo debunking the 10-hour electricity scheduling memo that suffice yesterday
• No students of the University of Ibadan will be victimised
• Purchasing of GES textbooks as a prerequisite for registration for GES courses is cancelled with immediate effect.
• The management reiterates that the sale of handouts is prohibited in the university, and any lecturer who violates this rule will be punished.
• The electricity situation at Alexander Brown Hall will be assessed by maintenance and further actions to be taken.
• A special time duration will be designated for students alone at the University Health Services (JAJA Clinic) to reduce waiting hours.
• The August 4 deadline earlier set as a deadline for fee payment is overruled.
• That the University management will re-present the school fess to the governing council for another review as soon as possible.
• The Union reiterates that Students should refrain from paying school fees until reviewed by the University management.

Besides, at the spot where the President of the union addressed the students protesting before the release of the virtual memo, students still reacted and insisted that the resolution on the school fees saga was not accepted. Hence, the former president and the current president tried all in their power to ensure that students return to their classes after a long day that has been used to revive history. They also however assured students that the union would ensure that the school fees saga would be sorted between the given weeks which approximately was two weeks. Immediate action was taken by the university management on every other matter that can be attended to with urgency through deliberation. As it is now, the expectation of students on their requests majorly hinges on the school fees saga that is not fully sorted yet.