14th September, 2011
Students of the University of Ibadan (UI) today disrupted the institution’s on-going second semester examination while protesting against lack of water and electricity on the campus.
Members of the students’ union government in two buses moved from one faculty to another to chase students out of the examination halls.
Some of the protesting students were seen at the school’s Faculty of Social Science chasing their fellow students out of the examination hall as their invigilators and lecturers watched the ugly scene helplessly.
P.M. NEWS gathered that no examination could take place in the school today because of the crisis.
The protesting students moved round the campus and were cursing the school authorities for mismanaging school funds, alleging that the welfare of the students is treated with levity.
They vowed never to allow any examination to take place on the campus until the school authority provides the students water and electricity
Efforts to get official comments from the institution’s authorities proved abortive as the telephone line of the institution’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mrs. Joke Akinpelu, was switched off at the time our correspondent called.
The Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, Professor Elijah Afolabi Bamgbose, did not pick his calls.
PM NEWS gathered that the school’s management could not provide water and electricity for the students because the institution’s power house was gutted by fire recently.
According to a reliable source in the institution, because of the fire incident the central generator could not generate electricity to pump water for the students.
“These students are aware that the power house was gutted by fire. We told them about the incident. For now, when there is power outage, we cannot supply electricity because our generator is grounded. We are working on it and we have assured them that as soon as we are through, we will ensure they get electricity and water. They just need to bear with the school authorities now.
“The problem now is that we have students who don’t want to work. Come and see them in the examination hall, you will know that they are not prepared for the exams. Why would students not like to write exams? We were once students like them. We did not get everything during our time and we did not behave like this. This is very unfortunate and it shows that most of these students are not well brought up,†the source said.
Most of the staff of the university were seen stranded at bus stops as taxi cabs in the area have boycotted the UI route.
The taxi drivers complained that the screening of vehicles at the entrance of the institution causes heavy traffic around the campus and they find it hard to get passengers back to town.
The security personnel of the institution began the screening to ensure that nobody enters the school with explosive substance following the bomb scare at the institution on Monday.
This was sequel to a letter received from Boko Haram that they are planning to bomb the school.
—Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan