LASU PROTESTS: Students storms Fashola's office with plates, mats, mosquito Nets, etc

Hundreds of Lagos State University students
on Thursday stormed the office of Governor
Babatunde Fashola at Alausa, Ikeja, and said
they would not return home until their school
fees were reduced and their arrested
colleagues released unconditionally.
The students, who arrived at the office at
about 3pm in over 10 buses, came along with
mats, mosquito nets and cooking pots,
among others.

To show their seriousness, the female
students quickly swung into action, setting up
firewoods to prepare beans near the entrance
of the Governor's Office.
The students also defied a downpour that
threatened their demonstration, as they
danced to solidarity songs and held mid-day
prayers to seek divine intervention.
In a letter to Fashola, titled, 'Save our future',
the students alleged that the tuition hike had
taken education beyond their reach.
President of the LASU Student Union
Government, Mr. Yusuf Nurudeen, said the
students had resolved to fight their cause until
their demands were met by the government.
Students use plates to 'write' Fashola OLE
(meaning, Fashola is a theif)He said, "Our
school has been shut down. Students are
dropping out of the university on a daily
basis. We decided not to engage the party
leaders because the people in government do
not understand any language. The only
language they understand is protest.
"We have resolved to fight this struggle by
ourselves. We are a pressure group in the
country. We can do this alone. We do not
want any person to fight for us. We elected
Governor Fashola. We elected all the members
of the House of Assembly. They must listen to
us.
"Fashola promised us a 'Better Rewarding
Future'. How can we have a rewarding future
without education? He has denied us
education by the tuition hike. Section 3(1) of
the law that established LASU stated that the
university should be made available for all
people irrespective of their socio-economic
background and status. Now, the governor
has made LASU the university of the rich.
"We will not leave until we hear something
from the government. We have gone
everywhere and the police shot at us. That is
why we decided to come here today and tell
the governor what is on our minds. Also, our
colleagues arrested by the police must be
released unconditionally.
"If the governor refuses to come out, we will
remain here until he comes out. If the
governor can respond to issues that are less
important than this, he should come out and
respond to the students of the state he
governs."
As of press time, no official of the state
government had attended to the students.
Fashola was said to have left for Port Harcourt
to join his colleagues for the Nigerian
Governors Forum retreat holding at the Rivers
State Governor's Lodge on Friday (today).
However, the commissioners for Information
and Strategy, Aderemi Ibirogba, and
Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, had on
Wednesday, said the government would not
be able to reach a conclusion on the tuition
till June 9.