Some students of the Lagos State
University on Thursday protested against
the continued closure of the institution.
The protesters, who marched to the
Governor’s Office, Ikeja at about 1pm,
demanded
immediate re-opening of the
school, which was closed on March 16,
2015.
The placard-carrying protesters also
appealed to Governor Babatunde Fashola
to address the lingering labour issues in
the institution.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards
read, “Re-open LASU now”; “After
election, wetin remain”; “LASU students
are ready to resume,” and “We want to
graduate,” among others.
It will be recalled that the state-owned
institution was closed prior to the 2015
general elections.
While the state government cited
elections for the closure, there was also a
brewing labour crisis which had
threatened the peace in the institution.
The crisis ─ a face-off between the Non-
Academic Staff Union and the school
management ─ had caused the indefinite
postponement of the 20th convocation
earlier scheduled for March 18 and 19,
2015.
The students on Thursday said it was no
longer acceptable that the institution
should remain shut since the general
elections had been concluded for about
three weeks.
President of the Student Union
Government, Wasiu Adeyemi, said, “After
the elections, we expect that they would
allow the students to come back to
school.
“But the government and the
management have remained mute, which
is unacceptable.
We want to learn, we want tp go back to
school.”
The students, in a position paper
submitted to the governor, further
appealed to Fashola to wade into the
NASU/management face-off to let peace
reign in the school.
While they sang and danced to songs to
support the protest, some of the the
students said they were optimistic that
the government would work on their
pleas.
