The Students' Union Executives and its activities have been suspended indefinitely by The Polytechnic, Ibadan's management due to an alleged protest by students on Monday morning.
The college also postponed the first-semester test scheduled to start on Monday, January 9, indefinitely, according to a statement issued by its registrar, Mrs Modupe Fawale, on Monday in Ibadan.
According to information obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), students had previously blocked the entrances to the State Government Secretariat. At the same time, Amotekun Security Outfit agents were stationed at the school gate, keeping it locked and secured.
According to NAN, the students were protesting the use of a consultant to manage the school's operations and the increase in the hostel rejection charge from N5,000 to N15,000.
Fawale claims that the management characterised the protest as politically driven and poorly intentioned.
“The students union body has no formal complaint before the management concerning the examination slated to commence on Monday, Jan. 9, and therefore, their protest to the state secretariat is questionable.
”The management further noted that the students’ union breached the rule of decency by locking all the gates that lead to the institution and thereby causing unwarranted hardship to their colleagues,” Fawale stated.
According to her, the management is concerned over the hardship the protest extended to the members of staff of the institution, their host communities, the neighbouring university of Ibadan, and the general public at large, especially those who have engaged with the institution.
“It is on record that The Polytechnic, Ibadan students pay one of the lowest tuition fees among their contemporaries in the Southwest.
“Payment of tuition has been made flexible and convenient as students pay 60 per cent of the tuition fee during the first semester and pay the remaining 40 per cent during the second semester.
“The Institution has not increased tuition in the last couple of years.
“Protesting on a day that they should be sober and commence their examination which is a major academic activity leading to the award of their diploma is ill-advised, politically motivated.
“It is therefore of no reasonable value to the students and indeed to the development of education,” she said.
The management reviews the situation and will issue a statement on when the suspended examination will commence.
“We appeal to students to return to class and prepare for their examinations. We also appeal to parents and guardians to call their wards to order,” Fawale said.