SOCIALIST YOUTH LEAGUE (SYL)
PRESS STATEMENT
*Injustice Anywhere Is A Threat To Justice Everywhere…
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos has over-grown his tyrannical feathers and has the audacity to further attack students of the University that he has unjustly and irrationally rusticated for at least four semesters because the students could not conjure how the University is been governed by the ‘Abacha-like’ Rahmon Bello leadership and began to ask questions. The latest attack which is condemnable involves students who were on campus just to distribute leaflets to sensitise their fellow students and also have a discussion with the University’s Division of Student’s Affairs (DSA).
But the University management being uncivil and hostile as it is, connived with Nigeria Police of the Sabo Division to arrest and brutalise armless students that were on campus to give updates to their colleagues. This is the height of insanity on the part of the University management even as students from different campuses joined students from the University to demand the reinstatement of the rusticated students because this has been the genesis of the crises that has rock the University of Lagos. Eleven students were rusticated immediately after three days of consecutive protests over the poor welfare conditions on the campus, the Students’ Union has been banned ever since then and just some days ago, two students were suspended all because of this same protest after almost a year (April 6, 2016).
The University management that cannot provide good and adequate, qualitative academic infrastructures and good hostel facilities should be probed and made to face justice
Also, a University management that cannot resolve crises by tackling issues from the root-cause is irresponsible and inhuman. Any administrator that chooses to toe the foot-path of been high-handed has so many things in his skeleton that he is hiding. There is no justification for you to be avoiding the court of public opinion if you have judiciously spent the public funds in your coffers but instead the University of Lagos management is using brute state force against the genuine demands of the students of the University of Lagos.
We in the Socialist Youth League (SYL) condemn in totality the unjust and irrational rustication of the Unilag13. We also condemn and demand the immediate release of Femi Adeyeye and the UNILAG 13 activists unjustly arrested and illegally prosecuted and detained by a so-called “mobile court at Oshodi.”
We call on all Civil Society Organisations and radical parties such as UAD, JAF, NCP, NAP etc. to intervene in this inhuman assault. Also, this is a wakeup call to all academic and non-academic staff of the institution to stand in solidarity and take practical steps to make sure these students are not perpetually victimised. Vicious examples over time has shown that after the University management deals with the students, they would then pounce on the staff unions also!
So, we urge unions on campus such as ASUU, NASU, SSANU, and NAAT to unite and take up the UNILAG management on these unjust actions against democracy, and stand in solidarity with the students.
Our demands are immediate and unconditional reinstatement of the students rusticated, immediate release of the students in the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, the immediate unbanning of the University of Lagos Students’ Union, all anti-student policies should be discarded, probe and prosecution of the University of Lagos Vice-Chancellor (Rahmon Bello) and the democratization of the decision making organ of the institution to include elected representatives of the students and staff of the University.
AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO AL!
Signed;
Abbey Banjris,
Coordinator.
