Editorial: BEYOND PROTESTS

The University Of Lagos had in the spate of two weeks witnessed two protests by students of the institution. The first was the protest against the high cost of items on campus and the other was staged on Thursday, 20th June, 2013 at about 6pm in front of the electrical unit as a result of the fluctuation in the supply of electricity to the various halls of residence.

It is as if the administration of the school is shrouded in secrecy especially when one considers the fact that the students do not have a unified body to speak for them. For instance, the protest against the shortage of power would have been avoided if the management had carried the students along on the development through various media such as the Information Unit, Press Club and Lag mobile.

This development only portrays the University as one that do not take the welfare of the students as primary as no member of staff (academic and non-academic) would be here in the first place without the students.

It is no news that goods on campus are sold at exorbitant rates as compared to what operates outside the community. Other services such as passport photograph, photocopy, printing and typing are also rendered at a high price.

According to the students, the aim of the food protest was to send a message to the vendors that enough of the extortion and also to inform the management that it is always “students first” as none of them would be here as member of staff if it weren’t for the students hence, the need to stop toying with their welfares as this is supposed to be paramount.

It is important to let the traders, vendors and other persons that renders commercial services on campus know that the students of this esteemed University awaits their unreserved apology for extorting them for so long.

The joint monitoring committee that was set up among the students, vendors and the leadership of the Dean of Student Affairs should see to it that they carry out their responsibilities without fear or favour, as the well-being of every student on campus solely depends on their ability to ensure compliance to the agreed prices and also monitor the quality of foods sold to the students.

With the fluctuation of the prices of goods as a result of Nigeria’s unstable economy, the work of the monitoring committee gets more complicated as they would need to go extra miles in other to regulate prices of items on campus.

This essay was first published in July 2013