The ongoing strike by the Non-Academic Staff
Union of Universities may have seriously affected the students of the Obafemi
Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
Investigation shows that the majority of the
students, who are currently preparing to sit their 2016/2017 Second Semester
examinations holding in a fortnight, are at the receiving end of the union’s
nationwide industrial action.
Many of the students who spoke to our
correspondent on Monday complained bitterly about not having electricity, water
and access to the university’s library and health centre due to the strike.
In the absence of electricity, they are forced to
study with the aid of candles and torches. Some of them have had to endure long
spells in the cold harmattan weather to read under the solar energy-powered
street lamps on the university campus.
A student of the OAU’s Faculty of Agriculture,
Saheed, blamed the university authorities for not making adequate preparations
before asking the students to resume.
“I am currently feeling pains in my eyeballs. I
was forced to start reading with candle light since last week. In the Awolowo
Hall where I live, we don’t have light and water. I am frustrated already
because I cannot afford to have an extra year. You still have to read in this
poor situation as we have been having tests vigorously,” he said.
Also, some other students, acting under the aegis
of Education Rights Campaign, described the current situation living condition
on their campus as pitiable and inhumane.
In a statement issued by their Acting Coordinator
and Secretary, Dunnex Samuel and Damilola Amethyst, respectively, the students
accused the school management of insensitivity.
The statement read in part, “We condemn the
insensitive nature displayed by the school management regarding the resumption
of students to hostile and life-threatening conditions.
“It is not only cruel, but it is also barbaric
for an institution of learning that prides herself as one of the best in the
sub-Saharan Africa to accommodate over 35,000 students in an environment that is
devoid of health care services and electricity and a non-functional library
amidst preparations for an d examination.”
When contacted, the Chairman of Non-Academic
Staff Union of Universities, OAU branch, Comrade Wole Odewunmi, said that the
striking non-academic workers in the university could hardly help the situation.
“As you know, the students are our children and
we wish to help but we are incapacitated by factors beyond us. The
situation may change any moment from now and it may also get worsened,” he
said.
On his part, the Chairman of the Academic Staff
Union of Universities, OAU branch, Dr. Caleb Aborisade, confirmed that the
environment was not conducive for both members of staff and students.
“Our congress has not met to say anything on
this. But, personally, a good parent should not allow his/her children to stay
or take examinations in this kind of situation,” he said.
When contacted on the telephone, the Public
Relations Officer of OAU, Mr. Biodun Olarewaju, appealed to the students to
bear with the university management.
He said, “We want to appreciate our students for
their readiness to learn and read for their examination. The university
management is not resting on its oars as we are putting machinery in place to
ensure that there is electricity.
“Within our little resources, we try to provide
electricity by fuelling our generator with diesel; but if those things –
generators, cables etc – have faults and those responsible for their repairs
are on strike, there is nothing the management can do.
“It is a peculiar case. The students should
please bear with us. There is a likelihood of another crisis if we bring people
from outside to come and fix the spoilt generator.”
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