UNILAG may ban students’ union

…Sets up panel to probe protest

By Gabriel Dike  

THE management of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) is strongly consider­ing a ban on the institution’s students union (ULSU) barely a year after it was unbanned.

The decision to clampdown on the union is sequel to the role the union’s ex­ecutive and legislative arms played in the three days protest was sparked by acute water shortage and absence of electricity. The students barricaded the school main gates, prevented motorists from entering the campus and ‘sack’ the lecturers from their offices. The school authorities in reaction shut down the school.

The panel according to Daily Sun source is to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the students protest and identify ring leaders of the three-day protest, which disrupted academic and administrative activities of 54-year-old institution.

The senior management of the univer­sity said the panel would be constituted soon.

A member of UNILAG Senate told Daily Sun that management last Thursday convened an emergency meeting of sen­ate. One of the fallout of the meeting was the directive for the setting up of a panel to probe the immediate and remote cause of the protest.

The source disclosed that ULSU, from the contributions by Senate members during the emergency and the mood of the university management, may face proscription because of several issues the exco have been accused of.

The Dean of Students Affairs (DSA), Prof Tunde Babawale told Daily Sun that the Senate is expected to meet soon but did not state for what purpose.

But the ULSU president, Mohammed Olaniyan who insisted that students are still on campus and the struggle ongoing, said he was neither aware of the existence of any panel to probe the protest nor plan to ban the union.

“Our union will not be proscribed by anybody. They must have reasons to want to proscribe the students union. We have not done anything wrong or did they say we destroyed any property during our demonstration,” he argued.

He insisted that if the Vice Chancellor, Prof Rahaman Bello had addressed the students on the issues, the demonstration would not have been necessary adding, “the VC ignored our letters requesting for meetings to tackle our demands.’’

Meanwhile, the university management and students union hold conflicting views on whether the students have vacated the hostels as directed by the Senate last week Thursday.

Head of the university Information Unit and Deputy Registrar, Mr. Adebule, maintained the students have vacated the hostels and the halls now under lock but, the ULSU President, said they are still on campus.

Adebule did not state when the protest­ing students left the halls of residence. But he did not rule out the possibility of Senate setting up a panel to look into the crisis even as he would not say whether the Senate would meet this week on the issue.