GREAT IFE STUDENTS' UNION ACTION COMMITTEE ON THE RECENT FLOODING OF TOWN RESIDENCES AND ARREST OF SUSPECTED CAMPUS CULTIST

GREAT IFE STUDENTS' UNION ACTION COMMITTEE

ON THE RECENT FLOODING OF TOWN RESIDENCES AND ARREST OF SUSPECTED CAMPUS CULTIST

The Action Committee uses this medium to sympathize with mass of students who were victims of the flood that occurred in some areas of Ile-Ife as a result of the heavy downpour that rained yesterday.
We are not unaware of the untold hardships faced by students who reside in town before now.

The exploitation, transportation crisis, insecurity, cruelty of landlords among many others have been the case before the massive flooding, which must have aggravated the sufferings of town residents due to loss of valuable properties, vital documents and several other items to the disaster.

While we can ascertain that many students' properties have been lost to the flood, we are yet to confirm if there was any loss of lives during the period, and we sincerely hope there would be none.We make bold to assert that the disaster is a result of leadership failure and negligence at both the government and the university.

While the government has failed in its responsibility to provide proper drainage systems with adequate town planning measures, we must also recall that the management has failed in its responsibility to provide enough campus residences to students, but chose to drive mass of students to areas that have been known to be unfit and dangerous living.

We demand the Osun state government through its ministry of works to wake up to its responsibilities while we also demand the immediate reversal of the accommodation policy and construction of more hostels on campus as it is the only palliative measure that can immediately protect students against recurrence of such events.

Furthermore, the recent flood is just one of the numerous consequences of the accommodation policy. Another ugly consequence of the policy has also manifested in the recent rise of campus cultism.

It is unarguable that the presence of mass of students has been responsible for stemming cultism on campus because of the intimidation they serve as to cultists and just manner in which culprits are being treated.

On the arrest of some suspected campus cultists, we demand that the university management should make an official release on the situation (stating the details of the situation and the names of the culprits so that students can be security conscious around them) and duly ensure that the suspects, if found guilty, should face the full consequences of the law as provided in the Nigerian constitution and university act.

Ultimately, it is only the recognition of the independence of the union that can show the seriousness of the management in the fight against cultism. In this light, we demand that the university management should take necessary steps in making sure that the union regains its full and democratic structure.

Signed: ACTION COMMITTEE, GREAT IFE STUDENTS' UNION.
[2:11PM, 30/07/2018] Dunnex Samuel: *WHY WE MUST ALWAYS ASK WHY!

Dunnex writes...✍

While one cannot but imagine why it has taken so long for the university authority, through its security unit, to respond to the arrest of some suspected cultists on campus, Students must begin to ponder on why series of strange and unprecented events of this nature have begun to resurface on our campus, especially the drastic decline of campus security. We must begin to ask ourselves why a campus that can be boldly referred to as one of the safest place on planet earth is fast-becoming a den of cultists, if not one already.
Hence, it becomes a necessity for students to become curious about recent happenings in the university community. We must begin to ask question on whom and what is responsible for the present situation? What is missing and what is needed? What has gone wrong?

Even though, I would have loved to believe that the university authority is tirelessly working on a thorough fact-finding process before any statement is issued on the arrest, the character display of the university management during the illegal arrest of OAU 5 has made it hard to believe that it requires donkey years before a report can be made on a security situation, especially one with this extent of degree.

As the case maybe, the university still maintains a tradition of zero tolerance to cultism with severe punishments for offenders.
But, this tradition might not have been sustained without the strong radical efforts of students who have always organized under the students union, over the years, to combat cultism and ensure that the university is not ridded of her serenity which was gotten through the sacrifice of students- even when such sacrifice requires paying with their dear lives.

That said, it becomes important to ask why the university management aggressively attacks students who defend the radical traditions while they provide enabling conditions for persons who have repeatedly proven to be against campus peace.

At least, it is well-known that some among the arrested individuals are close associates with members of the security unit. They are mostly seen together on campus like newly-wedded couples who are still experiencing their honey-moon. No one can really tell what kind of relationship exists between the two parties.
We can only recollect that one of the suspected cultists has once been confirmed as remorseful and reformed by the university vice-chancellor after he was reinstated for tendering apologies for being involved in a peaceful protest.

It is surprising that even though the bulk of the funds of the university have been committed to security and the employment of Ife-Modakeke warriors to beat up students, and the employment of their children to spy on the Facebook and WhatsApp pages of innocent change-seeking students, cases of cultism and cult-like activities have been on the rise recently and they have always been swept under the carpet by this university administration.

Even while we knew that the rationale of the management for suspending the protesting students was a false one.
It amazes some of us to know that the university management reinstated someone who was supposedly suspended for criminal offenses
pending police investigation.
How? How come? How could he have been confirmed reinstated without the police investigation but on basis of apology while others were left to miss a very crucial part of their academic life. Why? We must ask why?

Another considerable probe is the fact that the management was so benevolent to have given him hostel accommodation in Awo (medical floor) at a period when more than 80% of students were unable to secure campus accommodation (even in regular floors) due to a recently imposed accommodation policy that has driven the mass of students outside campus.

It must however be stated that the recently imposed accommodation policy can never be disconnected from the decline in campus security, given the fact that the organized mass of students who reside on campus have always served as intimidation and barrier for cultists.
But now, that the management has shown nothing but brazen insensitivity to the security of their students lives, the tables have turned.

Apparently, the reason for the tables turning is because the absence of mass of students, which have directly and indirectly boosted the confidence of campus cultists. Ultimately, the violent clampdown on independent unionism has further helped germinate campus cultism because it remains an unarguable fact that a radical and vibrant union is the only structure that can combat cultism on campus.

Then, we should begin to ask why the Vice-chancellor is attacking the union under the guise of proscription? Meanwhile, it is even expected of an average student to know that the freedom of association is a fundamental human right, as guaranteed by the section 40 of the Nigerian section.

Then, we should ask why the Vice-chancellor has chosen to infringe on our fundamental human right which has rendered us vulnerable to attacks on all fronts (cultists inclusive).

Sadly, the vice-chancellor once served in the union as a parliamentarian during the hey-days of the students movement. So we must ask why he has decided to deny our generation same rights he enjoyed in his own days as a student? Why?

With recourse to the preceding paragraph, it should be recalled that the reason for the illegal proscription of the union was because students refused the imposition of the vice-chancellor to reverse the impeachment of the former union president (a lackey of the VC).

Interestingly, the major factor for the impeachment was because of his sponsorship of cultists to campus with the students union bus. Then, why do all students have to pay for the atrocities of a man?
More so, the report of the sponsored cult attack was buried cleverly.  Surprisingly, the VC even tagged it a case of Two fighting."

Going by the above analysis, it can be logically deduced that if students refuse to start asking critical questions on the state of campus, things might get uglier.
At this crucial point in time, students mustn't hesitate to ask about the recent happenings on campus. Students must begin to demand for an independent and radical union. This is the reason why OAU students must begin to drop their sentiments and start asking why.

Dunnex Samuel
(Ag. Cordinator of the Education Rights Campaign and a member of the Democratic Socialist Movement, OAU, Ile-Ife)

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