Ondo State Students on Monday issued a seven day ultimatum to the state government to reverse its education policies believed to be anti-people or face massive protest that will shut down government activities in the state.
The students during a protest in Akure, the state capital said the Governor should meet their demands within seven days or there will be a major protest.
The students who stormed the popular old Secretariat road, caused vehicular gridlock as they barricaded the road.
They also disrupted official activities at the State Scholarship Board located at Oke Eda/Alagbaka as they locked up the office gate.
The aggrieved students said they were protesting the non-payment of bursary, abolition of WEAC fee payment and scrapping of free education in primary and secondary schools.
They explained that they were particularly protesting an alleged plot by the state government to increase tuition fee of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko from about N40,00 to N200,000.
The students carried placards with different inscription’s such as: “Governor Akeredolu Pay our Bursary, No School Fee Increment”, “Poor parents cannot Afford Huge Tuition Fee”, “Akeredolu: stop your anti-education policies” and “No payment of scholarship since you assumed office, yet you are planning to increase tuition,” “Akeredolu is a product of Awolowo’s free education, what is our offence. ”
Speaking with Journalists , the President of the National Association of Ondo State Students( NAOSS), Comrade Olanrewaju Akeredolu and another students’ leader, Comrade Oluwaseun Ariwajoye said that the students were yet to enjoy bursary and scholarship since Governor Akeredolu assumed office last year.
According to the students’ president, all efforts made by the NAOSS and NANS to meet the governor over their plight had failed .
He said, “We are giving the state government 7-day ultimatum to ascend to our demands or face a mega protest that would shut entire government’s activities in Akure. ”
Security men were on ground to forestall breakdown of law and order, while efforts by top government officials led the SSA to the governor on security matters, Alhaji Jimoh Dojimo and the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Reverend Akin Asaniyan to pacify the protesting students failed.
Alhaji Dojimo, however, declined to speak with the press until he gets the permission of the governor.
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