Students from Osun State-owned polytechnics and colleges of education on Monday, protested against the state government’s alleged nonchalant posture over the ongoing strike by their lecturers.
No fewer than 250 students, under the aegis of National Association of Nigerian Students, barricaded the popular Olaiya Junction at the state capital around 8am, causing heavy traffic.
The protesters, who chanted anti-government songs, refused to allow vehicles to pass through the area despite the pleas from the policemen and officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The students left the main road about 12:30pm after having turned the junction to a football pitch. They also played music powered by a small generator.
The NANS Join Campus Committee state chairman, Mr. Samuel Awowole, who addressed the students during the protest, said Governor Rauf Aregbesola must accede to the demands of the lecturers and reopen the schools immediately.
Awowole said, “We are compelled to troop out again as a result of the incessant strikes by our lecturers which led to the continuous closure of our schools. Exactly a month ago, the academic staff unions of the various state-owned tertiary institutions went on strike to demand their fundamental rights.
“Sadly, Osun State Government has done little or nothing to persuade our lecturers to go back to class or implement their demands. The government has demonstrated that it has no concrete plan for tertiary education in the state and it negates the promises made during the electioneering.
“Governance is not only about tarring roads, building market, train station and propaganda; it is equally about building the minds of youths because the foundation of every state/ nation is in the education of its youths.”
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Sunday Akere, while reacting to the protest appealed to the students to be calm, saying the government had started looking into the demands of the lecturers.
Meanwhile, striking members of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union in Ondo State, have vowed to continue with their industrial action until the Federal Government meets their demand.
They are seeking better funding of the nation’s colleges of education, among others.
The Chairman of the Adeyemi College of Education chapter of COEASU, who spoke to our correspondent on Monday, said members of the union would continue with the strike until the Federal Government meets their demands.
