The social media community of the Obafemi Awolowo University has been flooded by the anxiety of resumption date and different news broadcast on resumption date for the 2015/2016 academic session. Students have remained in the dark regarding the new date of resumption which have been put to debate since the end of the 2014/2015 Rain semester exams due to several rumours and speculations going round on the 52 working days leave of ASUU.
In a radio broadcast on popular Orisun Fm in Ile-Ife, the chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, OAU chapter, Dr Caleb Aborishade affirmed that they've started their leave since 6th of April 2016, and will end on the 24th of June. He said the leave is necessary for the lecturers to take care of themselves.
However, the University Management has not announced any date of resumption for both freshers and Stale students. Some students however believe that the silence of the Management means they still maintain their stand on the April 24th resumption date for freshers. However, online registration has not started which makes the possibility of resumption of the freshmen in April highly unlikely.
Also, it should be be recalled that May last year the university management granted the Academic Staff Union of University members leave which they rejected and this same union had reached a consensus in their last Congress to embark on the 52 working days leave and was made known to the university community through a communiqué, but it is rumoured that this time the university management disagree with the lecturers on this leave due to the disruption of the academic calendar.
As we await the Management's announcement and confirmation of a new date, students are enjoined to stay calm and debunk any unfounded information on resumption. As it stands now, there is no official date for resumption and efforts to reach both the School P. R. O, Mr Olanrewaju, and the ASUU Chairman have proven abortive. But you can trust OAU Peeps News Agency to continue to keep you updated as events unfold.
Following the commencement of application for accommodation by final year students few weeks ago,the Division of Students Affairs through the office of its Vice Dean, B.S. Afolabi (PhD) recently made a release on the University's order of priority for accommodation. It follows thus;
(a) Freshmen
(b) Final Year students
(c) Foreign students
(d) Students suffering from medical &physical disabilities endorsed by director of Medical services
(e) Medical (Clinical), students
(f)sportsmen and women recommended by the chairman of sports council
(g) Other Categories of students if possible
It was also stated in the release that there are just 9,500 bedspaces available in all halls of residence for more than 30,000 students in which freshmen coming in are about 7,500 with about 5,000 final year students.
The implication of this is if normal procedure is followed, the total number of bedspaces available will not be sufficient for all the freshmen & final year students.
It was therefore concluded that the modus operandi for accommodation for this session will be based and on first come first served.
We hereby advise all students, especially the Freshmen, to be on the lookout for the hostel registration.
An Open letter to Prof Omole
It's been a long but short journey through the leadership of this prestigious university, and also as the first citizen of this our Demo-nation. Leadership, a very sensitive position that brings about interests, direction and concentration. Being a leader for a year deserves commendation not to talk of being at the periphery of affairs for five years ( without considering achievements and fulfilment ), it's worth it.
At this same period some years back you were soaring to become the conduit of our Great Ife. Sir, your past was endearing and the future so glaring. It was a point in time when both students and staff ( Academic and Non-academic) were looking forward to a man who will either build on the work of Prof. Faborode or otherwise. Manifestos were read, journalists reported, government intervened, alumni were interested, students anticipated, elections were run and you mounted the sit of leadership under the administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
However it's been a while. I'm writing this to inform our heart's and reform our minds to deform our wrong conceptions.
You've always been my mentor since I read about you on Wikipedia, this made me so glad the first day I saw you. My hope of meeting you on a personal note experienced bliss.
In the first instance, I will like to tell you about the state of your alma mater and our university. Our conditions are now unbearable and becoming unbecoming, which always bring about sentiments and arguments among we student, everday. Our environments have become an habitat for strange animals.
Rats, our archenemy have now become our close competitors, if they have had the chance of collective reasoning they may have carried out a successful coup d'etat and eventually evacuated us from our hostels. They disturb us at night, terrorize us in the morning and tempt us at night. Our foodstuff are no longer safe, they break into our locked cupboard, vandalize our chow and victuals and leave us hopeless (due to the fear of lassa fever). The rats no longer give us chance to focus on our studies adequately, because sometimes we are scared they may reinvade us again. I know, we may seem unserious and always wanting the management to do everything for us. But we have tried all our possible best to conquer them, but they remain resistant, due to the fact that the rooms we call our own look more like theirs due to the look and the environ, perhaps they also believe it's their right.
Our toilets are no more serving their purpose properly, because most of them are delapitated. They no longer provide the comfortability they were meant for. The odour that escapes from some of our broken toilet pipes are so lousy that if it could have been the odour that came out of Lazarus's sepulchre, Jesus might have refused to call him back to life. Some of the toilet doors are broken, so our privacy are no longer protected. Our toilets have now become a breeding ground for Mosquitoes and fruit flies. Whereas our security(which is Window nets) are also distorted. Then, when we sleep at night the mosquitoes use their proboscis turned pipes to suck us dry, also infecting us in the process and causing Malaria which may inadvertently lead to another Unwelcoming visit to the health center.
Our lecture theatres are no longer conducive, the chairs in some of them are delapitated, even some boards have been disfigured, to the extent that the comfortability of 100 students is not guaranteed in a 200 seater lecture theatre. Likewise, the doors and Windows of some are bad that their security is no longer guaranteed.
I am unsure if you are not properly aware of all this or if our Student Union leaders have not taken time to discuss with you this pending issues. This are some painstaking problems which has and still continue to bedevil us.
I also really appreciate some of the promises you fulfilled. You promised us a better power supply. We no longer clamour for power supply since we always have a stable supply, expect sometimes due to malfunctioning of the system. Also, under your watch the university maintained the top spot among her counterparts in Nigeria and Africa at large. It is a rare feat you have achieved. Kudos Sir.
Yes, you have been in the position for almost five years. It's time to pass on the baton. We students can not afford having a bad leader in this university, therefore, I urge you sir, to do every appropriate thing to make sure the will of God for us is not influenced. Our University matters a lot than anybody's ambition because we are moving into another decade of leadership. Proper care must be taken to prevent furthered rupturing and poisoning of our university.
I will advise the VC, that before you relinquish power, he should make an auditioning of how our funds were managed and spent during his administration, so as to protect your ministry as a Pastor and also provide new chances for you in top leadership positions because accountability is the greatest asset of any leader.
Nevertheless, to move forward from this stern conditions of ours, we need a leader that feels our pains to sail the ship of this university for the next five years. The new leader must shift his focus totally from the past and concentrate on how to take this university higher.
To the VC, these are your last days in the office, use them wisely and judiciously. I appreciate you for all you have done, it's been a great ride with you in this few years, but don't forget the aforementioned problems, it's not too late to address them.
As Donald Trump will always say, let's make OAU great again. We want the creme de la creme from our next leader.
Israel 'Daarasimi
Disclaimer: The Opinions expressed in this Article are strictly that of Israel 'Daarasimi and not of OAU Peeps News Agency.
