LAUTECH students vow to continue shutting out UTME candidates

STUDENTS of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso (LAUTECH), who shut out UTME candidates allocated to the school as an examination centre, on Monday, are resolved to continue their protest on Tuesday.

The students’ action is to call attention of the two owner state governments of Oyo and Osun to the decision of lecturers to suspend teaching until they are paid their outstanding salaries.

LAUTECH lecturers on the platform of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had recently begun offering skeletal services by invoking the “No pay, No work” principle pointing to breaches in the agreement the union reached with the university’s management in February 2017, especially noting the accumulation of salaries arrears of seven and a half months.

The protesting students who also shut some staff of the institution displayed placards bearing inscriptions like, “Stable Academic Calendar”, “Save LAUTECH, give us stable calendar”, “Aregbesola, Ajimobi, save our future”, “Gbadegesin, the VC advised to withdraw.”

In various conversations, the students said their grouse was that the fate of current students was yet to be resolved while another set of students were to be admitted.

According to Electoral Secretary, LAUTECH Students Union, Mr Abodunrin Oluwadamilola, the gates would remain shut until a resolution is reached between the aggrieved lecturers and management to the effect that lecturers would resume within 48 hours.

“As of now, the protest continues tomorrow (Tuesday). After resumption from 9 months strike, our lecturers have refused to resume lectures.”

“Our resumption date is supposed to be April 17 but lectures have not started till now as the lecturers have refused to work if they don’t get paid. And, both owner state governments of Oyo and Osun have refused to pay until it completes auditing the school’s account and personnel.”

“We insist we won’t open the gate until we have a resolution that in 48 hours, our lectures will start.”

“Is the number of UTME candidates allocated to LAUTECH more important than the 25,000 currently on campus whose future is being delayed?” Abodunrin asked.

The UTME candidates loitered outside the school gate for hours hoping that the situation would be resolved by the relevant authorities before the end of the day, but left wondering what their fate would be.

It would be recalled that the union had in February called off a seven months strike following the release of N584 million by the two owner state governments of Oyo and Osun to clear two months of the outstanding salaries owed staff.

Speaking on the development, Zonal Coordinator, South West, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Mrs Bola Elushade, assured that the affected candidates of LAUTECH exam centre will be rescheduled for another date.

She hinted that the affected candidates were likely to be reallocated to Kwara State.

He told the affected students to expect text messages cum mails detailing their new exam centres and dates.

“The candidates will be rescheduled for another session so the affected candidates should wait to get text messages cum mails informing them when next they will write their examination. Probably from today, tomorrow, they will begin to get messages to reprint their slips to know when and where they have been rescheduled.”

“LAUTECH has said they cannot guarantee the safety of the candidates so we have to move them out.”

“The parents should be calm. Their children or wards will not miss the exams. They will write the exam on another day. Everyone supposed to write exams in LAUTECH between today (Monday) and Thursday will be rescheduled to another centre,” Elushade said.