Imisioluwa Bamidele 

It has been two weeks since the protest took place in the University of Ibadan. Students are left curious to know if their efforts have yielded any positive results as the issue of the school fees is still hanging in the air. As a result, NASELS PRESS reached out to the Students Union president, Mr. Aweda Bolaji to shed light on the negotiation of the school fees with the school management.

Commenting on the issue of the school fees, Aweda told our correspondent that “the school management has suspended the school fees deadline and the deadline for the fees is not 4th of August. Our stance remains that students should not pay until the school management has reviewed the school fees which is currently being worked on as I speak”. He added that “Every other thing that we required of the school management was done, only the school fees could not be effected immediately. As such, that is why it is currently being worked on and the governing council has to meet on it. That is the only thing delaying it. The response we should anticipate from them is a reviewed school fees, a downward review”, he added.

Addressing concerns that he ended the protest prematurely, Aweda Bolaji explained, “Since we have had a successful negotiation and the school has met our demands, it was only logical to call off the protest and return to classes.”

In response to how he could describe the protest, he said “I will describe the protest as successful because we achieved everything we could achieve within a short time. The last thing which is currently being done is the review of the school fees and it could not be done immediately because it has to be sent to the University Governing Council. The electricity rationing has also been sorted.” 

“I envisaged that the protest was going to be successful because I had trust in the University of Ibadan students to be intellectuals as we project ourselves. I knew it was going to be peaceful and we were only going to do what we went out for. So, I think that was what was different between now and 2017.”

He further explained that “We read the 2017 event in the book, I think there was no prior negotiation before the protest but in our case, there was a negotiation.” He revealed that the union was already negotiating with the University management before the protest, addressing students’ concerns about the lack of updates. He clarified that “while what sparked the protest was not on the negotiation table, we had a negotiation ongoing with the University management.” 

 Debunking the claims that the food bank was a strategy to divert the attention of the university populace from the impending school fees issue, he said “The food bank initiative was part of one of the executives’ manifestos, and we welcomed it, considering the economic challenges in the country that University of Ibadan students face. Since the school fees issue was still unresolved, it was not out of place to pursue other initiatives.”

“It is not as though we were going to suspend every other part of the union, While we secured the partnership at that point in time. I dare to say that there is no strategy behind it.”

Furthermore, he revealed that “the issue of safety on campus was also discussed as part of the matters tabled to the authorities. Currently, more security officials will be deployed to the Students’ area to safeguard and contribute to the safety of students in those areas where concerns about safety have been raised,” he stated.

 Reiterating his commitment to the service of the students of the University of Ibadan, he said “I want to encourage students to continue to have trust in the Union. The Union without U and I is nothing, so all of us must continue to contribute to the union and continue to be a strong part of the union for the union to continue to survive.”