Uniben Students Protest, Barricade Gate, Decry
Nonchalance.

Students of the University of Benin, ekenhaun campus, in
the early hours of today thronged the school's gate to
protest the lackadaisical actions being paid their campus by
the school's authorities.
The students numbering hundreds stormed the campus gate
putting it on lock down and preventing both entry and exit.
Some of the reasons attributed for the non-violent protest as
seen from the placards that hovered around were the lack of
a functional ATM machine, the lack of stable power supply,
lack of standard educational infrastructures, poor medical
facilities, non visitation of the University's Vice Chancellor to
the campus since his appointment, sheer neglect and
apathy for the campus' welfare amongst other reasons.
Cameras and Mobile gadgets were disallowed to avoid
implicating any student while other unpatriotic students
were enjoined to join in the 'fight for attention'.
A student who requested anonymity described her ordeal
last semester in the hands of nefarious hoodlums when she
and her friend went outside the school campus to withdraw
money from an ATM due to the redundant money
dispensing machine in the campus which she aptly
described as a statue. According to her, she and her friend
were attacked and beaten. Their phones and money were
stolen and they were lucky to get home with their lives. She
pleaded for the school to provide more ATM machines in
order to prevent putting the students lives at risk.
Another student from the mass communication department
who also preferred anonymity told of how he was asked to
go and buy his own injections when he was admitted at the
school's clinic last month because the drug was out of
stock. He blamed the campus medical officials for its sheer
negligence, insisting he was lucky to still be alive after he
was left for hours unattended to.
The University of Benin has always received rave plaudits
for its educational achievements and the refined products it
has churned out over years with reputable individuals like
Babatunde Fashola, Basket mouth, Emmanuel Uduagan,
James Ibori, Sir Victor Uwaifo, among others having
graduated from the University. However, there have been
claims over an alleged disparity in treatments meted out to
its main campus at Ugbowo and the sister campus where it
began at Ekenhaun. This claims were asserted by a visibly
angry student simply identified as Razman who insisted that
if nothing were done to address the students concern, the
protest might all but escalate into something worse next
time. He averred that there were scant classes to hold
lectures in and sometimes, a department's class
representative had to dialogue with another to sacrifice
lecture halls, with the staff secondary school in the campus
almost taking over the whole classes. He further described
the school's hostel as a 'place of torment' in need of mass
restructuring and renovations.
Another student from the department of Theatre arts
insisted that enough was enough. He lamented that the lack
of electricity was immensely affecting the students
negatively and the school maintenance team weren't
helping either, as they put on the school generator for little
less than two hours or nothing at all sometimes.
He continued that without light the schools studio couldn't
function properly and that was impacting on students
performance. He further voiced his frustration that for over
two years since the school's VC, Professor Faraday
Orumwense had been appointed, he had yet to visit
Ekenhaun campus.
It would be recalled during the last Student Union
Government elections that most aspirants promised to do
'sweet' things to the school campus but nothing as of yet
has been seen with only one ATM machine left to serve the
needs of the whole campus numbering more than 3000
students.
As at the time of filing this report, the institution's gate was
still under stiff lock down with students found singing
emotional solidarity songs and the Chief Security Officer in
attempts to restore normalcy.
More to follow...
Walter reporting live from Benin...
# Taulmannie.