Newly elected Student Union executives at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) have met with university management to advocate for a reduction in school fees. Discover the details of their demands and the university’s response.
On Wednesday, the recently appointed members of Obafemi Awolowo University’s (OAU) Students’ Union executives met with university officials to share students’ worries.
Among the demands made by SU executives were a decrease in school fees, an improvement in lodging options, and remedies to student transportation difficulties.
According to Osun Defender, the University Senate Building hosted a gathering attended by several key figures including Professor Siyan Oyeweso – the institution’s Pro-Chancellor, Prof. Simeon Bamire (the Vice Chancellor), members of SU executives and leadership from NASU, ASUU, CONUA as well as other prominent governing council officials.
During his speech to the university administration, Omoboriowo Isaac (Dr Bush), who was elected as president of the students union, advocated for a reduction in student tuition fees.
Additionally, he observed that the university administration should offer further provisions to cater for the students’ on-campus needs.
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He stated that his father permitted him to attend OAU due to the school’s substantially lower tuition fees.
Eight years ago, as a part one student, I paid only nineteen thousand naira which was merely three thousand more than what I had paid in secondary school.
In a conversation with Osun Defender subsequent to the meeting, Busari Samuel Timileyin (S&T), who was elected as the welfare officer, emphasized that the primary purpose of the gathering was to tackle concerns impacting students at school.
He stated that the focus of the discussion is on the challenges faced by OAU students while on campus. We were instructed to bring information pertinent to issues such as accommodation, transportation and other concerns relating to student welfare.
Omoboriowo Damilola Isaac, also known as Dr. Bush and the president-elect of the student union, led the Union’s leadership in presenting multiple issues concerning students on campus to both the PRO Chancellor and Vice Chancellor present at a meeting. During this discussion, he addressed his concern about securing an adequate number of accommodations for students on campus with University management officials.
At present, our campus has eight halls of residence with a capacity that falls short of accommodating the over thirty thousand students registered on this campus.Thus, it is imperative for the university’s administration to take measures aimed at providing additional hostels within these premises. Furthermore, there should be an emphasis placed on proper maintenance and management when constructing new facilities as some existing ones have poorly maintained restrooms which pose adverse effects towards hygiene standards.
Certain rooms within this residence hall lack light bulbs and electrical sockets, requiring students to venture outside of their living quarters in order to power up phones and other devices. It is requested that the university take action to rectify this issue by providing adequate resources for electronic charging on site.
In due course, the bushes surrounding us require clearing. There have been instances where the student union had to pressure university management into taking action on bush clearance.
The matter of transportation was also discussed at the meeting with the newly appointed Pro-Chancellor. It was suggested that more buses and larger vehicles should be acquired to cater for students’ needs. There is a concern about reports of bus drivers being extorted, as they fail to comply with agreements reached during meetings between union leaders and their colleagues. Therefore, it is important for management to initiate clear communication channels when engaging these drivers on such issues so that necessary action can be taken towards resolving them amicably.” The speaker emphasized this point unequivocally.
