Members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Ogun State axis, on Tuesday, stormed the Governor’s Office, Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, to protest what they termed “parlous state of education in Ogun”.
The protesting students, who had earlier driven around major streets in the state capital city in several buses and tagged their protest “Rescue Ogun State Education Campaign (ROSEC)”, also carried placard with inscriptions such as “Save Ogun State education “, ” Education must survive” and “MAPOLY must survive”.
Reasons for the Protest
Speaking on behalf of the students, the Chairman of NANS in Ogun State, Olawale Balogun, declared that the students were not happy with the state of education in the Ogun, urging the government to address the issue as a matter of urgency.
He specifically mentioned the delay in the commencement of the examination at MAPOLY, saying the action would affect the future of the students.
Balogun said the association was not happy with the cancellation of the payment of West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and the hike in the acceptance fee of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye.
Governor’s Response
While addressing the protesters, Governor Amosun said the state government was working hard to improve the standard of education in the State.
He, however, allayed the fear that students who are currently running various programmes at different levels in MAPOLY will be relocated to the Ogun State Polytechnic, Ipokia saying “they would be allowed to complete their programme”.
“I am not happy because this my school. What is happening today is because those that have been given the privilege to serve us are not serving well”
“Everybody here (current MAPOLY students) will finish their courses, it will take four years before MAPOLY will go into extinction, You are not going to Ipokia. If the lecturers don’t want that, we will sort them out”, Amosun stated.
On the delay of exams, the governor fumed: “They cannot hold us to ransom, they will explain to us why there is delay but it cannot be because we are creating new schools”.
“We are only admitting ND 1 students, but if you have carry-over you are going to Ipokia. We are not admitting any student to MAPOLY. We are not sacking anybody, we are not taking them automatically. Why should we carry another place problem to new one?”
Rector Sacked
Barely two hours after the protest of the students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY) Abeokuta, the Ogun State Government fired the Rector of the Institution, Professor Oludele Itiola.
The government has also appointed Mr. Ayodeji Salimon Tella as the Acting Rector of the institution.
In a statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, Professor Itiola is expected to proceed on his terminal leave with immediate effect, while the new Acting Rector is expected to take over the administration of the institution.
