Ekiti federal poly closed over students’ protest

Ekiti federal poly closed over students’ protest

The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti was yesterday shut down following protest by the students of the institution.

The students’ protest was sparked by a congress held by the polytechnic’s chapter of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) on Monday in which the lecturers resolved to continue with their strike.
The Rector, Dr. Taiwo Akande, ordered the closure of the polytechnic as ASUP and other unions in the polytechnic, the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the Senior Staff Union of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP) had been on strike protesting against the rector’s leadership style, which they said was against their interest.
But the placard-carrying students, who commenced their protest as early as 7a.m. yesterday called for an end to the strike, saying it was affecting them adversely.
The protest was led by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Southwest coordinator, Mr. Sunday Ashefon.
The students also claimed that their school fees were outrageous and complained that the polytechnic lacked facilities like electricity, water and that their hostels and lecture rooms were in bad condition.
They alleged that the polytechnic authorities were owing the Benin Electricity Distribution Company  (BEDC) electricity bills to the tune of N2.5 million which had thrown the hostels into darkness.
Speaking with newsmen before the students were dispersed, the Vice Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in Ekiti State, Oluwapelumi Ogunmekun, said strikes at the polytechnic had disrupted academic activities in the last one year.
He accused the management and union of playing games with the destiny of the students and expressed anger that lecturers at their Monday meeting voted in favour of continuation of their strike.
Ogunmekun further alleged that the Student Union Government (SUG) of the polytechnic had been compromised by the management hence, the invitation to NANS to “fight on behalf of the students.”
But the polytechnic SUG president, Oladapo Ajibola, denied being compromised by the management saying he was also part of the protest to ensure the resolution of industrial action embarked upon by the unions.
He explained that the students had been on the campus since January 4 without any academic activity going on, saying the student union would  have had another meeting with the management to find a way out of the crisis.
The Deputy Rector (Academics), Afolabi Bamidele, explained that the management was working hard to resolve the crisis rocking the polytechnic and a headway would soon be achieved.