OAU orders students to vacate school
Olaoluwa Folalu
The authorities of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, Osun State on Monday ordered their students to vacate the university following the continuous protest and shut down of facilities on the campus by workers under the aegis of Non Academic Staff Union, OAU chapter.
The workers of the institution started their protest with a warning strike penultimate Wednesday last week with allegation that the authority have not been paid their hazard allowances for about 64 months.
During the protests, the aggrieved workers shut down the university’s main gate and other facilities, including the university senate building and library, while. Vehicular movements were stopped with the main entrances of the university blocked for a week.
But in his reaction, the University Public Relations Officer, Mr. Biodun Olarewaju, explained that the university declared a ‘mid semester break’ not closure.
He denied the claim that the break was connected to the protest by workers of the university, saying that the school only wanted her students to go and have rest.
“at the emergency meeting today, the senate has approved that the management give the students mid-semester break, not closure. We will communicate to you in due course. The students should enjoy their Sallah celebration”.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the NASU, OAU Chapter, Comrade Wole Odewunmi, had hinted that they will embark on full shut down of the university .
“For the past 64 months, we are owned hazard allowance and we have had several meetings but yielded no results. After this, if the management refuses to respond to our demand, we will notify the management of our strike action. This is just a notification ahead of our strike action,” he said.
