Ibadan Poly students protest power outage, extra charges

Students of the Polytechnic Ibadan went on rampage on Monday to protest alleged unjust N500 Enterprenuership Programme charge and epileptic power and water supply on the campus.

The protest paralysed academic and social activities within the Sango main campus of the institution.

Police vans were seen at the main gate as students ensured that no vehicle gained access to the premises.

Protestors threatened to attack journalists, who were at the scene to gather information about the protest.

While speaking after a meeting with the management of the Polytechnic, the Students Union President, Iyiola Oladimeji, explained that the protest was staged to register their displeasure over a N500 levy allegedly imposed on them for the school's Entrepreneurship Development (EED) programme as well as irregular electricity and water supply.

"We are protesting because of some misunderstanding between the management and the students. We don't want payment of extra charges on  (EED) which has been unproductive. The students are complaining that the charges are too much and that the conditions on campus are not conducive for learning because we don't have stable electricity and water supply. We have been experiencing these for years now" he maintained.

But the institution's Public Relations Officer, Soladoye Adewole, insisted that the students should have exercised some patience and understanding since the electricity situation was a general problem across the country.

"The polytechnic Ibadan is not from another planet. It is also part of the Nigerian society. I dare to say that none of us is having regular electricity supply in our homes. And these students are also individuals from different homes and what they are experiencing here is not different from what they are experiencing in their various homes," he said.

He however stated that the N500 fees being charged for the Entrepreneuship programme was justifiable and not too much. According to him, it was to help run a programme that would give the students skills to create employment for themselves when public or private jobs elude them when they graduate.