Students of Lagos State University, LASU, are no doubt really grieved at the way things are going in their school. The students on Thursday stormed the office of Governor Babatunde Fashola at Alausa, Ikeja, to protest about their school fees hike, which was increased many months ago. The students said they would not return home until their school fees were reduced and all their arrested colleagues are released unconditionally.
The students arrived at the office at about 3pm in over 10 buses, came along with mats, mosquito nets and cooking pots, among others. The female students quickly swung into action, setting up fire woods to prepare beans near the entrance of the Governor’s Office.
The students also defied a downpour that threatened their demonstration, as they danced to solidarity songs and held mid-day prayers to seek divine intervention....
President of the LASU Student Union Government, Mr. Yusuf Nurudeen, said the students had resolved to fight their cause until their demands were met by the government.
Here is what he said; “Our school has been shut down. Students are dropping out of the university on a daily basis. We decided not to engage the party leaders because the people in government do not understand any language. The only language they understand is protest.
“We have resolved to fight this struggle by ourselves. We are a pressure group in the country. We can do this alone. We do not want any person to fight for us. We elected Governor Fashola. We elected all the members of the House of Assembly. They must listen to us.
“Fashola promised us a ‘Better Rewarding Future’. How can we have a rewarding future without education? He has denied us education by the tuition hike. Section 3(1) of the law that established LASU stated that the university should be made available for all people irrespective of their socioeconomic background and status. Now, the governor has made LASU the University of the Rich.
“We will not leave until we hear something from the government. We have gone everywhere and the police shot at us. That is why we decided to come here today and tell the governor what is on our minds. Also, our colleagues arrested by the police must be released unconditionally.
“If the governor refuses to come out, we will remain here until he comes out. If the governor can respond to issues that are less important than this, he should come out and respond to the students of the state he governs.”
The commissioner for Information and Strategy, Aderemi Ibirogba, has said the government may be able to reach a conclusion on the fees by June 9, the students are hoping that their conclusion should yield result.
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