At the Federal Polytechnic in Offa, Kwara State, students took to the streets in a peaceful protest on Thursday, demanding the immediate conduct of a students’ union election.
The entrance to the school’s permanent site was shut, preventing both staff and students from entering.
The demonstrators called for the elections to be held prior to the matriculation ceremony.
In addition, they requested that hostel fees should be optional rather than mandatory, a reduction in school fees, and they voiced their concerns about the high costs of textbooks, chest x-rays, and instances of sexual harassment.
Dr. Atilola Moses Idowu, the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) at Federal Poly Offa, confirmed these events.
Speaking to NewsNow over the phone on Thursday, Dr. Idowu stated that the students were dissatisfied with the way the institution’s management was handling the students’ election process.
“The primary demand of the disgruntled students is to hold the students’ union government election, which can only happen when the students’ union is fully established; this request will then be presented to the management for further action,” he explained.
“Although it’s a relatively minor issue, the students were not willing to wait. I engaged in negotiations and attempted to calm them down for two hours as per the directive of the institution’s rector.
“Despite employing various strategies, the students remained steadfast in their demands. Eventually, tranquility was restored on campus after the management instructed the students to head home for the Easter break,” Dr. Idowu added.