Imisioluwa Bamidele 

Students’ Outcries 

If you want to become the next UISU President, we don’t need calmness, we need radicality. If you are not radical, don’t come here.

The heat of anger in the words of Samuel could be felt as his heart pulsated very fast. He did not wake up on the wrong side of the bed but the recent turn of events in UI sparked the anger in him.

Decrying the extension of the school fees payment by the school management, he exclaimed, “How will you give us three weeks extra to hustle for 280k, come back and amidst that three weeks, I will still have to read. It is not as if I will not read for my exams.”

The Background of The Story

For the past two to three months, a single issue has been the bone of contention between the University of Ibadan management and her students, which is the FEES MUST FALL movement. This came in after the University of Ibadan management announced an increment in the fees that students would pay for the 2023/2024 academic session. 

In reaction to this, students came out in their numbers to protest for a reversal of the school fees. This protest first took place between July 16 and 17, 2024.

The protest caught the attention of the authorities and they summoned the Students’ Union executives for a dialogue where the students’ representatives tabled their demands in which they prevailed on the management to do a downward review of the fees. 

A month and a few weeks after the protest, the governing council held a meeting to review the school fees. However, it issued a notice for students to pay up their fees before September 4. This sparked an outrage amongst students which led to a fresh protest that broke out on Friday,  August 30 which eventually led to the management later releasing a circular mandating that students vacate the school premises before 2 pm, which further increased the bubbling tension on campus.

Students Call For Reversal of Fees And Cite of Management’s Intolerance 

NASELS Press interviewed some students to get their experiences and opinions on the blazing issue on campus.

In a chat with Samuel, a student of Educational and Religious Studies, he decried the student leaders for their reticence on the matter on the ground. 

In retrospect, Samuel stated, “So there was this movement that happened about the school fees increment. And a day before yesterday, we had a meeting at VC’s house in the early hours of Friday, that was around 12:00 am – 1:00 am and we had an agreement with the SU that there would be a committee that we would follow them to have a meeting with the school committee.”

Explaining further, he said, “But Oloye and his executives, they sly us, they went behind our backs without our consent. They went ahead to have a meeting with the school governing council. And when they came back, they were now telling us the agreement they reached with the school committee was that they would give us a three-week extension.”

Expressing his disgust at the above, he thundered, “We are meant to start our exams next week, so they will give us a three-week extension, and that can never be possible. How will you give us a three-week extension to hustle for 280k? It’s not as if I will not read for my exams”. He also added:  “And they also asked us to vacate the school before 2 pm and go home for three weeks and come back to school and we are going to pay the same amount of money.”

Condemning the failure of the management to reduce the fees, he asserted, “They declined the reduction of the school fees and after that, we are going to sign an undertaking, I don’t know if that is still intact. They said we are going to sign an undertaking that we will be obedient and we will still pay that fee, and we are saying we are not leaving the school premises.”

“The only solution they can give us right now is to reverse the money, not even reduction, total reversal”, Samuel submitted. 

Students Voice on Leaders’ Incompetence

Throwing jabs at the Students’ Union, Samuel said: “If you want to become a UISU President, we don’t need calmness, we need radicality. If you are not radical, don’t come here.”

Expounding on the above, he continued: “See, a post is not meant for Mummy’s boys, this is not a Mummy’s boy’s post. You don’t have to be calm. We don’t need your calmness. You have to be radical”.

Calling on the students’ leaders to do better, he admonished: “We need a leader that will speak for us, that will fight on our behalf, not someone that will be panicking. We want people that are vibrant and energetic. We want energetic people in the post and position.”

In the case of Sola, a Law student, clarified by saying, “First, I am going to say something. When we started this protest, the SU leaders did not start the protest so they have no power, no right to tell students who are aggrieved about all the things that are going on to stop the protest”.

Condemning the resolution released by the Students’ Union, she said: “And releasing that resolution or whatever they released is a disrespect to the students and it is a slap on their face as representatives elected by the students.”