Students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State watched their plans to carry out a protest on Thursday, wrecked and dismantled when a contingent of police officials arrived and barred the way. The protest, which was meant to serve as a sign of the students kicking against the ongoing strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was prevented by the police operatives who had arrived much earlier and cordoned off the zone.
Eyewitnesses confirmed that the protesters had swollen to massive numbers by the time they got to the protest venue and said that the sight of the police only served to rile up the crowd, leading to boos and wolf calls at the men in black. Some, however, were not deterred by the presence of the police and instead used the opportunity to make their voices heard. Brandishing placards scrawled with various anti-government messages, they demanded that the Federal Government place more interest on education rather than the elections.
Emeka Mosindi, a student studying Geology at the university, criticized the government for wasting the time of the youths and expressed concern for the many businesses affected by the prolonged strike whose main customers had been students. Other students also spoke in support of Mosindi, urging Nigerians at home and abroad to add their voices to the discourse and force both the Federal Government and ASUU to quickly resolve.
