President Goodluck Jonathan
A
recent visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, has caused disaffection among some of
the students, writes FEMI MAKINDE
President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to
the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, penultimate Friday
to attend a summit organised by the Concerned Yoruba Leaders has caused
disunity among the students of the university especially among the
leadership of the Students Union Government.
Ordinarily, the President’s visit to the
university where he is the Visitor should interest the students and the
management. But events after his departure have shown that things are no
longer at ease in the varsity which its students and alumni
affectionately call ‘Great Ife.’
Jonathan’s visit to the university when
students were taking examinations was believed by many political
watchers to be ill-advised similar to the visit of the then President
Olusegun Obasanjo to Kano in July 2002. Obasanjo was said to have been
been stoned by some almajiris while some cars in his entourage were smashed during his trip to the ancient city.
It was also believed that those who chose
the Oduduwa Hall of the university, built during the reign of Chief
Obafemi Awolowo as the Premier of the Western Region, for the event
wanted it to be historic since they knew the Ooni of Ife Oba Okunade
Sijuwade, who is one of the sons of Oduduwa, would be present at the
summit.
However, the organisers failed to put
into consideration the no-nonsense bearing of students of the
institution who used the opportunity offered by the gathering to protest
the hike in the tuition introduced by the university authorities months
before the visit. The students protested for about two weeks when the
new fee regime was introduced but they were unable to get the desired
reduction until the closure of the varsity in June.
On the day of the summit, hundreds of
security personnel deployed in Ife paralysed activities and their
refusal to allow vehicles access to the campus frustrated many students
who resorted to trekking the distance between the main gate and the
campus to take examinations.
Some students who were angered by the
discomfort caused them by the visit gathered close to the entrance of
the venue of the summit. The irate students were said to have hurled
abuses at politicians who were entering the hall. While the programme
was on, those inside were oblivious of the protest outside but at a
point, the Minister of State for Works, Dayo Adeyeye was seen beckoning
to the Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan and the duo stormed
out of the hall obviously to attend to the situation outside.
The President tacitly acknowledged in his
opening statement before reading his speech that there was a protest
going on caused by the punishment the students were subjected to by
trekking long distance to examination halls. He however added that his
administration would build a better Nigeria for the youth.
Jonathan, after the summit where he was
endorsed for a second term by many Yoruba leaders present, was warmly
received by the crowd of students some of whom brought out their phones
to take his photograph while on his way out.
However, there were reports on the social
media that the President was booed and stoned by the students. One of
the students who spoke with our correspondent on Thursday said there
were attempts by the some students to protest and embarrass the
President. The student who pleaded anonymity said a group of students
held a meeting and concluded that they would stage a protest at the
entrance of the hall during the visit. He added that they eventually
did, noting that security personnel present worked hard to suppress them
without brutalising any of them.
According to him, the huge number of
supporters of the aspirants for various positions in the coming general
elections on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party stormed
the campus to welcome the President alongside some students who were
pro-Jonathan. The development, he said, was used to subdue the
anti-Jonathan protest.
Defending the President, one of the
organisers of the summit who is also a former SUG President of the OAU,
Dr. Eddy Olafeso, told our correspondent on the telephone that Jonathan
was not stoned as reported while describing the report as a calculated
attempt by the opposition to embarrass the President.
Olafeso, who was Commissioner for
Information in Ondo State during the second term of Dr. Olusegun Agagu
said none of those who reported the purported stoning of the President
had been able to back up their claims with photographic evidence.
He said, “It is disingenuous to say
President Goodluck Jonathan was stoned when he visited the school.
Everybody saw how the students and other categories of people outside
the venue of the summit hailed him when he was leaving. If the President
was stoned, I am sure the media would have been awash with photographs
and videos at this time when almost everybody has a camera.”
The SUG President of the university, Mr.
Isaac Ibikunle, while speaking with our correspondent on the telephone
after the President’s visit, described as falsehood the report in some
quarters that some students of the institution hurled stones at the
President and booed him.
He said students of the university only
insisted on discussing with Jonathan regarding the tuition increase and
the President obliged.
He said, “We read some reports that the
President was stoned, booed and harassed when he came to our campus. It
is not true. Security personnel initially prevented us from seeing the
President but we insisted that we wanted to discuss with him and we were
allowed to do so. We told him that the increment was too high and he
promised to look into our complaint. We gave him a petition concerning
the exorbitant fees and he assured us that he would act on it. I
requested Mr. President to address us and he did. He is our President.
We did not embarrass him.”
Ibikunle added that the President was
hailed by the students and the visitors who came to welcome him as his
helicopter was taking off at the university’s sports centre. He also
said no traditional ruler was embarrassed contrary the reports in some
online platforms.
But two students of the university who
pleaded not to be named told our correspondent that some students
initially attempted to embarrass the President by stoning him but they
were quickly dispersed by the security agents.
They said some of the students protested
the fee hike, the killing of students in Jos, security challenges in the
country and the neglect of the education sector. The protesting
students, they added, barricaded the way and insisted that the President
should address them before his departure.
But the crisis which erupted on the
campus on Sunday night showed that the visit caused disunity among the
students. The clash was reminiscence of the invasion of the university
by some cult members in 1999 which left some students dead and many
injured.
It was further gathered that the
pro-Jonathan students clashed against the anti-Jonathan ‘forces’ who
made several attempts to ridicule him during the summit. A source said a
group of students was holding a meeting at the university’s SUG
building when a fracas broke.
In the bloody clash, a student identified
as Tedy, was allegedly stabbed with a rod with a pointed end while
another student, David, was dealt a machete cut on his head. David was
said to be on admission at a hospital as at Thursday. The management of
the university debunked the claim that the clash was a cult attack on
the campus.
However, the Public Relations Officer of
OAU, Mr. Biodun Olanrewaju, said the clash was not cult related but a
clash of interest over the visit of the President.
He said, “There was no cult invasion in
OAU. Our campus is too fortified for that to occur. Our security men go
on regular patrol and we are in collaboration with external security
forces. What happened was just a fight between two groups of students.
“Some students believe that it was wrong
for another set to take picture with and welcome President Goodluck
Jonathan especially when it is done without their consent. It was just a
friendly fight. All that happened was that a group felt they were not
carried along.”
The atmosphere on the campus was still
tense as at Thursday. Students were afraid that some of those who were
injured might storm the campus for a reprisal.
Worried by the crisis, the university’s
chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities is believed to be
making moves to reconcile the warring factions to ensure that normalcy
returns to the institution.
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