17th January, 2011
Students in South West Nigeria have vowed to disrupt the forthcoming general elections in Ogun State following the sack of 170 lecturers of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, OOU by the Ogun State Government.
Lecturers of the institution had been on strike over three months, paralyzing academic activities in the citadel of learning, while the State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel has refused to meet the lecturers’ demand to recall the sack teachers.
The students have therefore issued Daniel 14-day ultimatum to recall the sacked lecturers so that the school would be re-opened or face unrest which might jeopardize the coming elections in the state.
The students under the aegis of the Movement for the Emancipation of Nigerian Students, MENS, lamented the meager allocation to the education sector and the sack of the 170 lecturers which was the basis for the industrial action in the school.
According to a statement signed by MENS National Coordinator, Tope Idowu, the strike in the institution has led to poor standard of education in Ogun State.
“We condemn the nonchalant attitude of Ogun State Government to the educational sector and we regard it as a clear reflection of a government that lacks legitimacy and does not understand the basics of governance.
“We also condemn the belief of the university’s governing council that the best way to deal with the lecturers who are at the vanguard of agitating for proper funding of the school was to get them off the system by sacking them without considering the negative effect it will have on academic standard of the institution.
“Ordinarily, the total number of lecturers in Nigeria is not enough. Sacking over 170 lecturers is an act of wickedness and insincerity,†they said.
“We therefore, without mincing words, call on all stakeholders to call Gbenga Daniel-led administration to order for the sake of our future, peace, history and posterity.
“We call on all sons of Ogun at home and in the diaspora to help salvage the falling standard of education in our dear state for the sake of a better Nigeria,†they added.
The students demanded the immediate reinstatement of the sacked 170 lecturers, proper and adequate funding of the institution, reversal of the decision of the state government and school management to increase tuition fees and immediate dissolution of the governing council, “because the decision they took is a reflection of their inability to manage issues.â€
“We advise the state government to act on our necessary complaint and reverse the ungodly, punishable and harsh decision which is capable of jeopardizing the future of the youths and the indigenes of Ogun State and Nigeria at large.
“We advise Mr. Daniel to meet our demands so as to avoid violence, because any attempt to take us for granted will lead to a ‘third world war’ in the state. Therefore, we call on President Goodluck Jonathan, traditional rulers, civil society groups, rights activist, religious leaders, to prevail on Mr. Gbenga Daniel to meet our demands within 14 days so as to avoid what can lead to disruption of the forthcoming general election and anarchy,†they warned.
— Kazeem Ugbodaga
