ASUU Strike: Police calls for calm as OAU students protest 


The Commissioner of Police in Osun State, Olawale Olokode, has appealed to students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, to be civil in their protest.


The students of the university had protested against the continuous strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), preventing vehicular movement in the town.


The students who barricaded major roads in Ile-Ife carried placards with inscriptions such as “Fund Education Now,” and “Education is not a Scam,” among others.


They converged under the aegis of the Fund Education Coalition, vowing to continue the protest until the government accede to their demand and heed the call of the lecturers.


The angry youths blocked major roads and prevented the movement of vehicles for some hours, saying “we would continue like this until the government settled with our lecturers.”


They chanted anti-government songs and their Muslim counterparts observed Solat Zuhr prayer on the highway.


They accused President Muhammadu Buhari of neglecting education and focusing on who succeeded him come 2023.


One of the protesters, Olugbade Mojeed, said the strike has forced some students to engage in unholy vices with no end in sight.


He said, “we are protesting because the government has failed the education system. This government has been showing a nonchalant attitude to education and they focus on electoral activities. We say no to incessant strikes and we say no to lack of funding for the education system.”


Also, Abraham Omowumi, lamented the lingering strike, warning that the protest may continue if the urgent step was not taken to end the strike.


Omowumi who bemoaned the negative impact of the strike on their parents and their future, said “we can not think of any other thing in life.”