Governor Amosun closes down OOU over student protests

Earlier in August, the governor slashed fees across all its state-owned tertiary institutions, but while students of other institutions welcomed the development, those of OOU expressed dissatisfaction,
engaging in series of protests.

In some occasions, the police resorted to using teargas canisters to disperse them.
Reports even had it that some students were shot by the police.

The governor has now deemed the actions of the students as "threatening the peace of
the state", and has urged parents to call them to order, as his government would not condone intolerable acts.
He said the decision to close the institution was arrived at after all attempts to pacify the
aggrieved students, who were "acting under the influence of external parties", proved
abortive,

"Security reports have since confirmed that because the students are acting under
external influence, no concession made by the government will be satisfactory to them," read a statement signed by Mr. Taiwo
Adeoluwa, secretary to the state
government.

"OOU students staged a violent
demonstration in the state capital, Abeokuta,
on August 15 and it took the personal intervention of the governor, Senator
Ibikunle Amosun, to restore normalcy.

"The governor thereafter set up an ad-hoc committee to discuss with the students with a view to resolving the situation. During
discussions with the ad-hoc committee, OOU students maintained their stand that the
fees must be further reduced and that the implementation must commence immediately.

"Consequently, we have no option than to order the immediate closure of all the
campuses of Olabisi Onabanjo University to protect the students and other residents of
the state and their property. We urge all parents to impress on their wards the need to maintain peace in the interest of all."

Adeoluwa said the demand of the students that the new school fees regime should commence in the present academic session is unrealistic, as the government cannot afford to bear the N2 billion cost implication.

Copyright 2014 The Cable. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.thecable.ng as the source.