"We Want To Learn:" LASU students arm-up over continued closure as govt blames 'overbearing unions'

The crisis at the Lagos State University (LASU) has taken a turn for the worse. Students say they "want to learn and we must go back to school" even as the government blames "overbearing unions" for the school's continued shut down

Students of the Lagos State University (LASU) have continued their demand for the reopening of the institution which has been shut down since early April.

The management has on March 16 announced the closure of the institution for “election recess” before the 2015 general elections.

But, with the conclusion of the elections, a date for resumption is yet to be announced, a development that does not seat well with the students.

They have staged several protests and the President of the Student Union Government (SUG), Wasiu Adeyemi, last week in Abuja, said the student can no more bear to stay at home.

"We want to learn and we must go back to school,” Adeyemi said.

The union lkeaded noted that the students do not know why the school remains closed three weeks after the elections.

“Immediately the government announced election recess, I had written a letter rejecting the recess that didn’t stipulate when we are to resume," Adeyemi said.

"That is exactly what is happening now.

"When the elections were over, we expected that they would allow the student to come back to school since there was no crisis."

He said only a valid explanation of the reasons behind the continuous closure will calm the students.

“If the government or management gives us other reasons (for the continued closure), we would tag along with them, but to remain mute is unacceptable."

Last week, the Public Relations Officer of LASUSU, Adebanjo Fatai, had urged Governor Babatunde Fashola while lamenting that "the love of LASUites is never in the heart of the Management as we can deduce that the management and the state government are not ready to reopen the school."

But the Special Adviser to the governor on education, Fatai Olukoga, has blamed the students and unions in the institution for the crisis.

“The problem of LASU is just the overbearing nature of the unions, both the lecturers, the management and the students," he said while responding to questions at the 2015 ministerial press briefing.

Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. John Obafunwa, is in a running battle with the institution's workers' unions; Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff of Universities (NASU), who want his removal.