Students urge Gov. Ambode to end LASU crisis

The Lagos State University Students Union (LASUSU) on Friday urged Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode to end the lingering crisis between the institution’s vice-chancellor and the staff unions.

LASUSU’s Public Relations Officer, Mr Adebanjo Fatai, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that Ambode should step into the matter to disallow it from getting out of hand.

Fatai said that LASUSU was in support of the protest by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Zone D, on Aug. 20, to call the governor’s attention to LASU’s crisis.

He said that the protest at the Ojo campus of LASU, during which its gate was barricaded for hours, was not aimed at attacking the staff unions or any other personality.

“NANS intervened to call on the governor for an action, and not to attack the staff unions. So, their action should not be misinterpreted.

“LASUSU is a sister union under the umbrella of NANS Zone D, including 21 other institutions within the geographical location. So, its intervention to lift our plight was just.

“The crisis in LASU has been on ground for the past six months, while the governor assumed office three months now.

“The students, therefore, expect the governor to take a decision to end the rift,’’ the LASU students’ spokesman said.

Fatai said the union was not interested in the removal or reinstatement of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. John Obafunwa, as desired by the staff unions.

“All we want is the re-opening of the Senate chambers and the Administrative Block, as the continuous lock of the building was affecting the students both academically and administratively ,” he said.

The PRO lamented that LASU was suffering from partial stroke as a result of the continuous closure of the Senate chambers and the Administrative building.

“Presently, the 100 Level Law students had not been enrolled because the documents for their accreditation had been locked in the administrative block.

“There are also cases of mass failure in all the departments because the Senate could not sit on students results,” he said.

Fatai said that the state government, through Deputy Gov. Idiat Adebule, however, intervened to stop the Aug. 20 protest, with the reopening of the university, after being shut for hours.

The deputy governor had invited the union for discussions to resolve the crisis, which shows that the NANS Zone D protest had begun to yield positive results already