Varsity students protest over alleged poor facilities in Ekiti

Gbenga Sodeinde, Ado Ekiti

The students of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti state on Monday protested what they described as poor learning facilities in the school and demanded the provision of more funds from the federal government to complete projects approved for the university.

The angry students blocked the gates of the school and mounted road blocks to prevent anyone from entering the school. They demanded for the attention of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Kayode Shoremekun.

The Public Relations Officer of the Students Union Government, Comrade Omofoye Adetola, said: “The SUG reached an agreement yesterday night to stage a peaceful protest today.

“Our demands are that our road in phase 3 and to engineering faculty must be fixed, building of makeshift classrooms in faculties of education, health, engineering and others approved must start now.

“Although, the school management has approved the Ikole Campus Sports Complex, but its building has not commenced. We want the Wi-Fi connection in both Oye and Ikole campuses to start immediately.

“The management is right over the non-payment of fees by students, but we have been appealing to students to pay promptly and they have been responding well for the past two weeks.

We urge the management to review the payment of the fees to assist the students,” he said.

But, Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Kayode Shoremekun, who alleged that findings by management shows that students who have refused to pay school fees and who have been barred from been part of the forthcoming examination may be behind the protest.

The vice chancellor also insisted that his probe showed that students may be protesting against the delay in completing the main library complex abandoned by his predecessor.

Shoremekun, who disclosed that serious effort have been made to improve on facilities at the school, however, hinted that management is engaging the students’ representatives in dialogue to ensure a stable and peaceful environment on the university campus.

The vice chancellor however, warned that students who failed to pay their fees will not be allowed to take part in the exams.