Punch Mobile 18th March, 2014 Home Students protest ASUP strike, shut down expressway March 18, 2014 by Samson Folarin 2 Comments [print] Protesting students. Protesting students. | credits: Goke Famadewa Students of the Yaba College of Technology, Lagos State, shut down the Ikorodu Road for several hours on Monday to protest the lingering strike of the Association of Staff Union of Polytechnics. While some students mounted roadblocks, a few others slept on the road, while some posed for camera shots as stranded motorists groaned in their vehicles. Our correspondent learnt that the protest, which began around 8am, started from Yabatech school gate towards the Ketu area, and was ongoing when our correspondent left them around 2pm. A student leader, Hassan Taiwo, said the students decided to take the action so that the government would know that they wanted to go back to their classes. He said, “This protest is to express our displeasure at the continuous closure of public polytechnics for the past eight months. We believe the government is not doing the needful to address the plights of the students. We want to return to our classes.” Another student, Akinsanya Femi, said the protest would not stop until the Federal Government acceded to ASUP’s demands and stopped the discrimination between university and polytechnic graduates. He said, “We want to return to our classes. Secondly, discrimination between B.Sc holders and HND holders must stop. “HND is even greater than B.Sc because we spend five years in the classroom and one year for industrial training, while the degree holders spend four years in school. We also want the government to address the issue of employment because despite the years in school, jobs are not guaranteed. The event of last week Saturday in which some of our youths died is a case in point.” Another protester decried the attitude of the FG to education, saying the money spent on the ongoing National Conference could have been better channeled to education. When asked if they were not mindful of the hardship they were putting an average Nigerian through with the protest, the General Secretary of the Lagos State Tertiary Speakers Forum, Akeem Jayeju, said it was a necessary hardship. “The future of an average Nigerian lies in the hands of the youth. We are also fighting for the rights of Nigerians. If it is well with us, it will rub off on the society. “Moreover, the people in the traffic are our parents and siblings. It is only those politicians who have their children abroad that may not understand what this means. Most of the people on this road share our pains, “he said. Jayeju added that the traffic snarl was also deliberate, as it was meant to send a strong message to the government that they were serious about their demands. Our correspondent observed that at certain points in the protest, there were near clashes between the students and some car owners who wanted to break through the roadblocks. Those who attempted to pass through the service lanes were also prevented from advancing as the angry students stood in their way. The Lagos State Bus Rapid Transport dedicated lane was also prevented from functioning. PUNCH Metro had reported in 2013 that the students embarked on protests for many days, calling on the Federal Government and ASUP to reach an agreement. Femi said the protest would continue until the situation was addressed. “We will not stop until they keep us busy in our classrooms. Yes, they did not answer us when we protested last year, but we will continue to march on the roads. In fact, this is only the beginning because we have other things that we are planning,” he added. The protest train moved to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota, where the students appealed for urgent intervention in the crisis. Copyright PUNCH. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 17:02:39 +0000
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