Open LASU or face violent protests — SUG President

Adeyemi Onikoro, the President of the Lagos State University Students'
Union, tells Firstclass newsline that after appealing to the state
government to reopen the school, the patience of the students is
wearing thin
Therelationship 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.
Firstclassnewsline.net