Reopen LASU Or Risk Violent Protests — SUG President

The President of the Lagos State University Students’ Union, Adeyemi Onikoro, tells TOBI AWORINDE that after appealing to the state government to reopen the school, the patience of the students is wearing thin
The relationship between the Students’ Union of the Lagos State University and the state government appears to have turned sour over the years. Why is this?
The students of LASU and the Lagos State Government have always had cordial relationship, because the school is owned by the state and the state is the chief host of the university. It is only when the union’s demands are not met by the state government that students believe it is their responsibility to protect their interests. We go through the normal procedure by way of appeals, confrontation and negotiations with them. We resort to the last option of confronting the state government when we discover that we have exhausted all the principles of comradeship to get what we want and the government refuses to meet our demands. Thus, basically, we have a cordial relationship with the government. But when we discover that it is playing with the Students’ Union, then we have no other choice than to confront it in order to get what we believe to be our constitutional right.
Recently, there was a protest by LASU students. What was the reason for the protest?
Actually, there was no protest against the state government of late. What we had was a march from Allen Junction, Ikeja to the state secretariat in order to submit our petition to the government. Prior to that, we had given a petition to the state government as regards the on-going crisis in LASU. We are aware that the school was closed down under the guise of election events. The (school) management told us that the approaching elections were the reason for closing the school and from the office of the president (of the union), we condemned such an act. On behalf of the students’ union, I condemned the fact that they school was being closed for election events without stipulating the resumption date. It was unacceptable by the students’ union. In my life, I have never seen where a school gives its students a holiday without telling them when they would resume. But the school authorities assured us that if there was no crisis after the elections, we would resume as soon as possible. Now, three weeks after the elections, we have yet to resume. If they say it is because of election events and elections are over, and there was no crisis associated with the elections, then what are we talking about? Even (Akinwunmi) Ambode, who won the governorship election, said there was no point in students going on recess. He has tried to call them (LASU management) to order but they failed to listen to us. We have also discovered that the closure of the school is not even because of the recess. There is more behind it, which has to do with the crisis between the management and the staff unions on campus-the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities, and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities. Be that as it may, we have been trying our best to play a mediator role between the parties involved-the unions and the management-because we know that whatever happens, we would be the ones to suffer for it. But all we have been doing have not yielded any positive results. We first wrote to the management. When that did not work, we decided to write to the governor asking him to reopen the university immediately for the students to come back to campus. When they failed to do that, we gave them 48 hours ultimatum. Even if the government is not part of the crisis, we know it has the veto power. It can call the relevant parties to a roundtable and address the issue at hand. It shouldn’t affect the students. That was why we held that peaceful march last week Thursday.
But the state government has said the attitude of the school’s unions, including the Students’ Union, has been overbearing.
I can say that was a reckless statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, because everyone knows the position of the Students’ Union on this matter. What we have been agitating for, which everyone is aware of, is the reopening of the university and we have been doing this peacefully. With regards to the SA on Education, we have written several letters to the state government asking it to meet with the ASUU, NAS, SSANU and school management in order to reopen the university. That is the only thing that concerns the students’ union because the students are the ones suffering from everything happening now. So, with all due respect, I think the SA on Education made a reckless statement. We expect him to be the one to champion the roundtable solution because, even though there is a governing council, the special adviser on education is superior as far as anything tertiary institutions is concerned. We believe that he ought to settle the ongoing crisis between the management and the staff unions by any means necessary, rather than joining issues with the Students’ Union. This is not a crisis between the Students’ Union and the management. It is not a crisis between the Students’ Union and the state government, neither is it a crisis between the Students’ Union and the other unions. It is only because our academic calendar is affected that we have come into this matter and tried to do our best to resolve the issue. We are not, in any way, contributing to the pressure of the university. In essence, we consider it a reckless statement and we reject the statement totally.
What brought about the crisis?
The current crisis started on March 23, 2015 with a protest by NASU. Later in the day, ASUU and SSANU joined them in the spirit of solidarity. After that, we decided to move closer to the unions to know what was happening, because we know that whatever happens in the university will in one way or the other affect the students. Some of the issues had to do with salary arrears, victimisation, and promotion. These issues brought about the crisis. However, I think they are being attended.
Wouldn’t it be counterproductive for the state government to reopen the university when the staff unions refuse to go to work?
It is not only the Students’ Union that is canvassing the reopening; the staff unions are also canvassing for it. They are on campus and they have told the students that they are ready to lecture. They are only waiting for the management to reopen the university. The reopening of the university is what everybody is canvassing for. That is the reason why we went to meet the governor. If everybody is ready to go back to classes, then there is no need to continue closing down the university. Agreed, there are issues for us to solve, but these can be solved simultaneously. They can reopen the school and, at the same time, attend to the demands of the staff unions.
If the state government does not act swiftly on your demands, do you have any plans of approaching the state legislature?
We have actually been carrying them along all the while. Whenever we write to the governor on a particular issue, we copy the Lagos State House of Assembly, as well as other relevant offices. Therefore, the legislature is aware of what has been going on. We believe they ought to have done something by now. It is not until when the students go on the streets that they would know something has happened. That is what the government fails to understand. Nobody knows that anything is going on because we have been very civil, sending out letters to the government and copying relevant authorities-the House of Assembly, the SA on Education, the governing council of the school, the management, and so on. We have been initiating negotiations and trying every possible means to make this issue a roundtable affair, before the students say they want to go on the streets (to protest). If we go on the streets, they will begin to shout that LASU students have started again. But they forget that we have spent more than one and a half months on this current crisis looking for a way to solve it without going on the streets. At the end of the day, the students will have no other option but to go out to protect what belongs to them. Nobody wants to spend six years in the university doing a course that one should spend four years studying. It has been happening in LASU before, but it will not happen again. It is uncalled for.
Over the past few years, there have been protests by LASU students that degenerated into violence. What assurance are you giving that this will not be repeated?
I am not assuring you; if the government can assure us that the welfare of the students will be taken care of, then there is no need for us to go on violent protests. You must agree with me that nobody likes violence. Why do we need to go on the streets to protest unnecessarily? It is one thing that leads to another. The last time we went on the streets, it was because of the issue of school fees. But it is not only LASU that protested on the streets; even the market women and other concerned people joined us because the act was uncalled for and nobody would accept it. That is exactly what needs to happen. But, as I told you earlier, we will never go on the streets without having done what is necessary; whether through negotiations, roundtable discussions or any other means. But you must understand that the government, either at state or federal level, always likes violence to occur before it can listen to what people are asking them to do. In LASU, we are not disposed to violence, but we will always oppose any anti-student policy that is against the best interests of our students.