#FeesMustFall Protests: Education Rights Campaign Urges Students To Stand Firm As UI Shuts Down Over Protests

Education

#FeesMustFall Protests: Education Rights Campaign Urges Students To Stand Firm As UI Shuts Down Over Protests

Reported by Ayooluwa Afolabi

The Education Rights Campaign has condemned the management of the University of Ibadan over its alleged tactics against the anti-fee hike protests in the school.

This position was communicated by Comrade Namdi, the Acting Branch Secretary of the organisation in a statement on Saturday, Sahara Reporters reported.

The statement reads, “Students must remain resolute as none of the offers by the university administration is acceptable. The goal must be Fee must Fall Now!

“The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) stands with the mass of students as they continue the struggle for a reversal of school fees agreeing with them that the options presented by the university administration and governing council are not acceptable to the mass of students.”

Lambasting the Students’ Union for allegedly betraying their colleagues, the ERC said, “We, however, warn against the spreading of defeatist sentiments as a result of the betrayal of the students by the leadership of the Students\' Union (SU).

“These sentiments do the struggle nothing but harm. As far as we are concerned, the struggle so far is not a complete waste as some concessions have been obviously won.

“Take for instance, the university had been forced to postpone the examination against the initial plan to start on the 2nd September, 2024.

Although, this is far below what was expected by mass of the students, nevertheless, it is an indication that a bigger concession and total reversal of school fee is possible if the leadership of the students have demonstrated more courage and readiness to provide determined leadership to the struggle against the fee hike.”

The organisation cautioned the students against allowing the three weeks’ shutdown of the university announced by the authorities to stand.

It said, “It is in the light of this background, the ERC condemns the Aweda-led SU for its lukewarm attitude towards the struggle so far, at the same time, advises the students not to allow the imposition of the 3-week break by the university administration to kill the momentum of the protests, instead they should find other ways to organise outside the school, in order to mount up the pressure.

“To this extent, we propose the launching of a 3-week long media campaign to television stations and radio stations particularly in Ibadan and Lagos with a view to expose to the whole country what is happening to public education in UI and to compel the UI authorities and governing council to rescind the fee hike.

“Such a campaign will involve mass of UI students in both Oyo and Lagos states making themselves available at designated take off points to march to media houses with placards and banners. A committee can be elected from the Congress holding today to work out a timetable for the media campaign as well as meeting points that students can come to in both cities during the period of the break.

“Students in other states across the country can also organise in this direction. But we should not limit it to the traditional media alone. Students can also go online and organise with others X spaces and other online activities to trend the issue of UI fee hike on social media in order to garner support of the public.

“This means that by the time the school is reopened at the end of the 3 weeks’ break, we could have succeeded in turning the tide against the UI authorities and also forcing the governing council to rescind its decisions. This is to us is the best tactical way to take advantage of the current situation to breathe new life into the struggle.”

According to SaharaReporters, it was earlier noted that the tuition was increased from N230,000 to N412,000, triggering an outrage by the students.

The students, therefore, vowed to boycott classes and shut down the school if their demands regarding the reversal of the fees were not met.