Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Breaking News: Suicide Bombers Hit Military Vehicle in Maiduguri
Suicide bombers in four Volkswagen golf cars rammed into two military trucks on Damboa road 10km from Maiduguri. At this time, casualty figures are unknown.
Maiduguri has been the site of attacks on the Giwa Barracks led by the Boko Haram Islamic sect in recent weeks.
Nigerian military officials re-took the Giwa Barracks in a tense fire-fight in recent days, capturing and killing several members of the sect. It is unclear what this recent unprovoked attack is linked to. We will provide additional updates as we receive them
Mikel, Moses listed in Chelsea mass clear-out
Chelsea are planning a mass clear-out of more than 10 players in the summer, with Fernando Torres, Ashley Cole and Mikel Obi all set to leave.
Manager Jose Mourinho admitted after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace that changes had to be made in order to improve the squad for next season. While the Portuguese again revealed his frustration over his underperforming strikers, a number of players in different positions are on their way out according to a London Evening Standard report.
The senior members of the squad who are vulnerable include Torres, Demba Ba, Samuel Eto’o, David Luiz, Mikel, Cole and back-up goalkeepers Mark Schwarzer and Hilario.
Anxious to adapt to UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules, the club want to bring down the wage bill, which means they will let Luiz leave for £30m and are prepared to sell some of the 28 players currently loaned out including Romelu Lukaku, Marko Marin, Victor Moses, Ryan Bertrand, Gael Kakuta and Josh McEachran.
Mourinho is determined to make some high-profile signings, including Atletico Madrid forward Diego Costa, to improve their ability to challenge on all fronts and is aware he has to raise funds to bring in the quality he wants.
The club have run out of patience with Torres, who has two years left on his £175,000-a-week contract. He has scored just four League goals this season and if a permanent move cannot be secured, a loan one is a possibility. Ba has confirmed he will be leaving Stamford Bridge after failing to make an impact since joining from Newcastle 15 months ago.
Eto’o has been Chelsea’s best forward with 11 goals and the club have an option to keep him for another season when his contract runs out in May but no decision has been made on that.
Super Eagles midfielder, Mikel has found himself frozen out since Nemanja Matic joined for £21m in January and Chelsea hope he can command a large fee because he has three years left on his contract.
As Standard Sport revealed, the club are also prepared to cash in on Brazil international Luiz. Paris St-Germain and Barcelona are both interested in his services. Significantly, Mourinho substituted Luiz at half-time at Selhurst Park for “tactical reasons” and has rarely played him in his preferred central-defensive role this year.
Chelsea are also confident they can make a significant profit on their loan players. Lukaku has scored 13 goals at Everton but his relationship with Mourinho has soured and he has had a price tag of £20m-plus put on his head.
Moses and Marin, at Liverpool and Sevilla respectively, cost £16m between them in 2012 and are not part of the Chelsea coach’s plans, so permanent moves will be sought.
Mourinho dropped a major hint over his intentions at Selhurst Park. “We want to improve the team and the players and make some surgical movements in the transfer window,” he said.
“Normally at the end of the season, players that are not playing a lot or who are not happy and prefer a change, that is also part of the market.”
Girls found me boring –UNIOSUN best student
From an average pupil to the best graduating student of the Osun State University, Osogbo, Rasheed Oladipupo steals the show at the institution’s third convocation, AKEEM LASISI writes
Poor little Rasheed. As a primary school pupil, no matter how well he thought he performed, his mum would still scold or at times beat him.
The fact is that Alhaja Kuburat Oladipupo believed that even if Rasheed, her only male child, got 70 per cent in a subject, he could have got up to 90 if he had worked harder. Such was the extent of the iron hand with which the woman handled the child, who, at the time, seemed destined to be an average pupil.
But that disposition has borne fruits. Rasheed, that weeping boy of some 15 years ago, has turned out to be an academic star. This became evident on Saturday when he emerged the overall best graduating student of the University of Osun, Osogbo.
By scoring the Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.73, he did not only come top in the Economics Department and Faculty of Social Sciences, he also bagged the Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for the Most Outstanding Student of the Year in Humanities; and the Chancellor’s Prize for the Most Outstanding Student of the Year.
As a result, the 22-year-old native of Omuaran, Kwara State, was widely celebrated at the event that drew guests from different parts of the country to the Osun State capital.
In an interview with our correspondent, Oladipupo, understandably, says he is very happy to emerge a big winner. According to him, when he first found out that his CGPA was 4.73, he exercised a little restraint in his excitement because he felt there could be higher flyers from other faculties. Noting that he has always aimed to be the best, he practically gives the victory to his mother who, he says, pushed him to the apex of his intellectual endowment.
“My mother has two children,’ he enthuses. “I am the second child, but she trained me as if I was the first born. She trained me as if I was not her child. Because I am her only son, she did not want to spoil me. Each time I brought home my result, she would still beat me and insist I could do more.”
Oladipupo became more puzzled when his mum took him to a boarding house for his secondary education at Methodist Boys High School, Victoria Island, Lagos. He wondered how a woman would throw her only son into such a ‘lonely’ place. But the essence of the mother’s ‘wickedness’ began to dawn on him eventually.
He discovered in the boarding house that the loneliness he had feared was the best companion he needed at the time. He had all the time to face his study. In the Senior Secondary School 1, he finished in the 10th position; he was ninth in SS2; while he led the class in the first term examination in SS 3. He had five distinctions and four credits in the West African School Certificate Examination.
Now, by the time his ‘battle’ with the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination started, he was very prepared to triumph. He wrote the examination thrice – scoring 232, 271 and 262 – before he eventually secured a place at UNIOSUN.
Although Oladipupo salutes his lecturers for bringing out the best in him and other graduands, his lifestyle at the university was also instructive. He partied less while he enjoyed reading between 12am and 5am. He managed to sleep during the day when he had no lecture. He recalls that although some friends started imbibing his style when they saw his results, he was not a ladies’ choice at all.
“Girls found me boring,’ he explains. ‘They called me a triangular student. They said my life was too boring. When I was at the 300 level, I once had a girlfriend, but the relationship did not last because she could not adjust to my lifestyle.”
He is happy that each of his friends – Isayomi Abiodun and Durodola Opeyemi – also bagged a first class.
As Oladipupo, whose polygamous father died last year, looks at the future with a brighter hope, the ‘war’ between him and his mother may not be over, though. According to him, she wants him to be a professor. He is, however, leaving the future open, although he also aims to study to the doctorate level, no matter what profession he finds himself in.
For Alhaja Oladipupo, a trader in Obun Eko, Lagos, she feels elated that her son has made her dream come true.
“I am not a literate person,’ she says in Yoruba. “I am just a trader who believes her child should have the best. Because I did not go to school, I believe he should get the best of education. Besides, it is proceeds from our trading that formed a large part of what we used to train him. So, it is important that he makes the best use of the opportunity. The only thing that pains me is that his father could not witness the great feat, because he died last year. He, too, would have been very proud of him.”
Dignitaries, including the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, commended the woman for struggling to give her child quality education.
At the event where foremost scholar, Prof. Toyin Falola, delivered the Convocation Lecture entitled ‘Public Universities, Vision and Knowledge Economy’, several other graduands also shared in the excellence that Oladipupo exhibited.
For instance, Muhammad Abdumajeed, who scored 4.70 CGPA, won the Pro-Chancellor’s Prize for the Most Outstanding Student of the Year in the Sciences.
Adebukola Okewole, Adeniyi Tayo, Olubunmi Adebayo, Mariam Salaudeen and Olubunmi Odunlami led the Faculties of Agriculture, Basic and Applied Sciences, Education, Humanities and Management Sciences in that order.
The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Adekunle Okesina, while congratulating the graduands as well as other stakeholders, notes that the university has continued to record academic successes. According to him, 1,186 students graduated at the convocation.
He gives the breakdown as first class, 20; second class upper, 328; second class lower, 660; and third class, 178. He adds that the university does not award pass degree.
Okesina identifies the institution’s achievements to include accreditation, introduction of new courses and giant strides many of its lecturers are making.
He says, “I am happy to announce that at the end of 2013, Osun State University had succeeded in securing 100 per cent full accreditation for all its 32 prorammes presented for accreditation. Given this remarkable feat and in order to actualise the academic programme of Strategic Plan of the institution, it has processed and obtained the Nigerian Universities Commission approval for the commencement of 12 new undergraduate academic programmes.”
While the NUC Executive Secretary, Prof Julius Okojie and UNIOSUN’s Pro-Chancellor, Prof Gabriel Adewoyin (SAN), commend the institution for the progress it is making, the VC notes that one of the challenges before the university is funding for a ‘state-of-the-art’ teaching hospital it wants to establish.
But the convocation also provided an opportunity for administrators, staff and students of Nigerian universities to have a sober reflection. Championing this cause were Aregbesola and Falola, who want universities to be more relevant to society.
In his remarks as the Visitor, Aregbesola argues that higher institutions can do far better than they are currently doing, especially in guaranteeing functional education.
He notes, “We should restore glory to our ivory towers. A university does not only provide and promote knowledge; it is also one of the highest achievements in human organisation. The university is crucial to development.
“Knowledge is useless without being available to humans who apply them. It is unfortunate that in our society, the relationship between the academia and the larger society has almost broken down. One of the manifestations is the issue of unemployable graduates. There must be a link between knowledge-producing centres and knowledge-using centres.”
Falola, who is Jacob and FrancesSanger Mossiker Chair in Humanities, University of Texas, United States, examines the state of affairs in the sub-sector, challenges and proffered solutions, while suggesting models to emulate.
He notes that across the world, public universities have been able to supply the required human power to develop humanity and the nation.
“They advance the frontiers of knowledge, contribute to research, support the vision of the country of location, and sometimes serve as veritable support pillar for critical institutions in society. Basic education may enable individuals to survive, but public universities are necessary for society to succeed,’ Falola explains.
Among other recommendations, the scholar wants the institutions to give youths real world skills in order to help them become gainfully employed after graduation, utilising the idea of apprenticeship and trade schools.
He adds, “Our educational goals should make us to be able to make food available, plan cities, supply energy and run services. Abundant skills must be developed to reduce importation, so that money can circulate to create a more diversified economy.”
Poor little Rasheed. As a primary school pupil, no matter how well he thought he performed, his mum would still scold or at times beat him.
The fact is that Alhaja Kuburat Oladipupo believed that even if Rasheed, her only male child, got 70 per cent in a subject, he could have got up to 90 if he had worked harder. Such was the extent of the iron hand with which the woman handled the child, who, at the time, seemed destined to be an average pupil.
But that disposition has borne fruits. Rasheed, that weeping boy of some 15 years ago, has turned out to be an academic star. This became evident on Saturday when he emerged the overall best graduating student of the University of Osun, Osogbo.
By scoring the Cumulative Grade Point Average of 4.73, he did not only come top in the Economics Department and Faculty of Social Sciences, he also bagged the Vice-Chancellor’s Prize for the Most Outstanding Student of the Year in Humanities; and the Chancellor’s Prize for the Most Outstanding Student of the Year.
As a result, the 22-year-old native of Omuaran, Kwara State, was widely celebrated at the event that drew guests from different parts of the country to the Osun State capital.
In an interview with our correspondent, Oladipupo, understandably, says he is very happy to emerge a big winner. According to him, when he first found out that his CGPA was 4.73, he exercised a little restraint in his excitement because he felt there could be higher flyers from other faculties. Noting that he has always aimed to be the best, he practically gives the victory to his mother who, he says, pushed him to the apex of his intellectual endowment.
“My mother has two children,’ he enthuses. “I am the second child, but she trained me as if I was the first born. She trained me as if I was not her child. Because I am her only son, she did not want to spoil me. Each time I brought home my result, she would still beat me and insist I could do more.”
Oladipupo became more puzzled when his mum took him to a boarding house for his secondary education at Methodist Boys High School, Victoria Island, Lagos. He wondered how a woman would throw her only son into such a ‘lonely’ place. But the essence of the mother’s ‘wickedness’ began to dawn on him eventually.
He discovered in the boarding house that the loneliness he had feared was the best companion he needed at the time. He had all the time to face his study. In the Senior Secondary School 1, he finished in the 10th position; he was ninth in SS2; while he led the class in the first term examination in SS 3. He had five distinctions and four credits in the West African School Certificate Examination.
Now, by the time his ‘battle’ with the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination started, he was very prepared to triumph. He wrote the examination thrice – scoring 232, 271 and 262 – before he eventually secured a place at UNIOSUN.
Although Oladipupo salutes his lecturers for bringing out the best in him and other graduands, his lifestyle at the university was also instructive. He partied less while he enjoyed reading between 12am and 5am. He managed to sleep during the day when he had no lecture. He recalls that although some friends started imbibing his style when they saw his results, he was not a ladies’ choice at all.
“Girls found me boring,’ he explains. ‘They called me a triangular student. They said my life was too boring. When I was at the 300 level, I once had a girlfriend, but the relationship did not last because she could not adjust to my lifestyle.”
He is happy that each of his friends – Isayomi Abiodun and Durodola Opeyemi – also bagged a first class.
As Oladipupo, whose polygamous father died last year, looks at the future with a brighter hope, the ‘war’ between him and his mother may not be over, though. According to him, she wants him to be a professor. He is, however, leaving the future open, although he also aims to study to the doctorate level, no matter what profession he finds himself in.
For Alhaja Oladipupo, a trader in Obun Eko, Lagos, she feels elated that her son has made her dream come true.
“I am not a literate person,’ she says in Yoruba. “I am just a trader who believes her child should have the best. Because I did not go to school, I believe he should get the best of education. Besides, it is proceeds from our trading that formed a large part of what we used to train him. So, it is important that he makes the best use of the opportunity. The only thing that pains me is that his father could not witness the great feat, because he died last year. He, too, would have been very proud of him.”
Dignitaries, including the Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, commended the woman for struggling to give her child quality education.
At the event where foremost scholar, Prof. Toyin Falola, delivered the Convocation Lecture entitled ‘Public Universities, Vision and Knowledge Economy’, several other graduands also shared in the excellence that Oladipupo exhibited.
For instance, Muhammad Abdumajeed, who scored 4.70 CGPA, won the Pro-Chancellor’s Prize for the Most Outstanding Student of the Year in the Sciences.
Adebukola Okewole, Adeniyi Tayo, Olubunmi Adebayo, Mariam Salaudeen and Olubunmi Odunlami led the Faculties of Agriculture, Basic and Applied Sciences, Education, Humanities and Management Sciences in that order.
The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Adekunle Okesina, while congratulating the graduands as well as other stakeholders, notes that the university has continued to record academic successes. According to him, 1,186 students graduated at the convocation.
He gives the breakdown as first class, 20; second class upper, 328; second class lower, 660; and third class, 178. He adds that the university does not award pass degree.
Okesina identifies the institution’s achievements to include accreditation, introduction of new courses and giant strides many of its lecturers are making.
He says, “I am happy to announce that at the end of 2013, Osun State University had succeeded in securing 100 per cent full accreditation for all its 32 prorammes presented for accreditation. Given this remarkable feat and in order to actualise the academic programme of Strategic Plan of the institution, it has processed and obtained the Nigerian Universities Commission approval for the commencement of 12 new undergraduate academic programmes.”
While the NUC Executive Secretary, Prof Julius Okojie and UNIOSUN’s Pro-Chancellor, Prof Gabriel Adewoyin (SAN), commend the institution for the progress it is making, the VC notes that one of the challenges before the university is funding for a ‘state-of-the-art’ teaching hospital it wants to establish.
But the convocation also provided an opportunity for administrators, staff and students of Nigerian universities to have a sober reflection. Championing this cause were Aregbesola and Falola, who want universities to be more relevant to society.
In his remarks as the Visitor, Aregbesola argues that higher institutions can do far better than they are currently doing, especially in guaranteeing functional education.
He notes, “We should restore glory to our ivory towers. A university does not only provide and promote knowledge; it is also one of the highest achievements in human organisation. The university is crucial to development.
“Knowledge is useless without being available to humans who apply them. It is unfortunate that in our society, the relationship between the academia and the larger society has almost broken down. One of the manifestations is the issue of unemployable graduates. There must be a link between knowledge-producing centres and knowledge-using centres.”
Falola, who is Jacob and FrancesSanger Mossiker Chair in Humanities, University of Texas, United States, examines the state of affairs in the sub-sector, challenges and proffered solutions, while suggesting models to emulate.
He notes that across the world, public universities have been able to supply the required human power to develop humanity and the nation.
“They advance the frontiers of knowledge, contribute to research, support the vision of the country of location, and sometimes serve as veritable support pillar for critical institutions in society. Basic education may enable individuals to survive, but public universities are necessary for society to succeed,’ Falola explains.
Among other recommendations, the scholar wants the institutions to give youths real world skills in order to help them become gainfully employed after graduation, utilising the idea of apprenticeship and trade schools.
He adds, “Our educational goals should make us to be able to make food available, plan cities, supply energy and run services. Abundant skills must be developed to reduce importation, so that money can circulate to create a more diversified economy.”
Man Swept Out To Sea During California Church Baptism
Rescuers have ended their search for a 43-year-old man swept to sea during a baptism ceremony on a Southern California beach.
The U.S. Coast Guard says the search was called off about midnight Sunday and there are no plans to resume it.
A wave pulled three people into the ocean about 10 a.m. off Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve and only two managed to return to shore on their own.
Pastor Maurigro Cervantes of Jesus Christ Light of the Sky Church says his cousin, Benito Flores, was helping perform a baptism when he was swept away.
Fire Capt. David Sadecki said Monday that it would be difficult for anyone to survive more than 30 minutes in the cold water.
The U.S. Coast Guard says the search was called off about midnight Sunday and there are no plans to resume it.
A wave pulled three people into the ocean about 10 a.m. off Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve and only two managed to return to shore on their own.
Pastor Maurigro Cervantes of Jesus Christ Light of the Sky Church says his cousin, Benito Flores, was helping perform a baptism when he was swept away.
Fire Capt. David Sadecki said Monday that it would be difficult for anyone to survive more than 30 minutes in the cold water.
Girl Stabs Her Best Friend 65 times For Posting Their Naked Photos on Facebook
A 16-year-old girl was so outraged after a Facebook dispute with her best friend that she murdered the young girl by stabbing her in the back 65 times.
MetroNewsUK reports that Erandy Elizabeth Gutierrez was furious after she received messages that alerted her to the fact that her friend had uploaded naked pictures of the pair to the social network. She told her friend, Anel Baez, also 16, that she would be lucky to survive until the end of the year.
'It may seem that I am very calm, but in my head I have killed you at least three times,' Gutierrez wrote to Baez via Twitter.
Laughing off Gutierrez's threat that she would 'bury' her 'before the end of the year', the unwitting Baez
invited her friend to her home in Guamuchil, Mexico to patch things up.
According to local police, Gutierrez asked to use the bathroom but instead went into the kitchen where she found the knife she used to stab her friend over 60 times.
A police spokesman explained that after the murder Gutierrez tried to clean the blood from her clothes and the weapon but was unsuccessful. Gutierrez tried to hide her role in the murder after fleeing the scene and even pretended to grieve alongside her other friends.
But following police investigations she was eventually arrested at her best friend's funeral - keeping the sinister promise she made to see her buried before the end of the year.
MetroNewsUK reports that Erandy Elizabeth Gutierrez was furious after she received messages that alerted her to the fact that her friend had uploaded naked pictures of the pair to the social network. She told her friend, Anel Baez, also 16, that she would be lucky to survive until the end of the year.
'It may seem that I am very calm, but in my head I have killed you at least three times,' Gutierrez wrote to Baez via Twitter.
Laughing off Gutierrez's threat that she would 'bury' her 'before the end of the year', the unwitting Baez
invited her friend to her home in Guamuchil, Mexico to patch things up.
According to local police, Gutierrez asked to use the bathroom but instead went into the kitchen where she found the knife she used to stab her friend over 60 times.
A police spokesman explained that after the murder Gutierrez tried to clean the blood from her clothes and the weapon but was unsuccessful. Gutierrez tried to hide her role in the murder after fleeing the scene and even pretended to grieve alongside her other friends.
But following police investigations she was eventually arrested at her best friend's funeral - keeping the sinister promise she made to see her buried before the end of the year.
FIFA helped Nigeria qualify for World Cup – Ethiopian coach
Former Ethiopia coach Sewnet Bishaw has launched a scathing attack on FIFA, claiming world football’s governing body conspired to see them miss out on a place at the 2014 World Cup.
The Walia Antelopes failed to secure a ticket to this year’s Brazil showpiece after losing their qualifying play-off against Nigeria, with the Super Eagles winning 2-1 in Ethiopia before securing a 2-0 victory at home in the return leg.
But Bishaw, who was relinquished of his duties with the Ethiopian national team following their failure to qualify, believes FIFA played a huge role in the side’s shortcomings, accusing them of “bringing the game into disrepute”.
“FIFA didn’t want us (Ethiopia) to qualify (for the World Cup) because who knows Ethiopian football and who wants us to qualify when we were playing against the current African Champions,” the coach told Football411 in an interview.
“We played our hearts out and we wanted to win and qualify for the World Cup but FIFA didn’t like that. They awarded penalties for them (Nigeria) which were never penalties, and these things happens because FIFA wants them to qualify for the World Cup.
“It was a shame for Ethiopian football because we fought from the (first) blast of the whistle to the end. For me, Nigeria didn’t deserve to qualify because they were aided by FIFA, which is not good for the game of football.
The Walia Antelopes failed to secure a ticket to this year’s Brazil showpiece after losing their qualifying play-off against Nigeria, with the Super Eagles winning 2-1 in Ethiopia before securing a 2-0 victory at home in the return leg.
But Bishaw, who was relinquished of his duties with the Ethiopian national team following their failure to qualify, believes FIFA played a huge role in the side’s shortcomings, accusing them of “bringing the game into disrepute”.
“FIFA didn’t want us (Ethiopia) to qualify (for the World Cup) because who knows Ethiopian football and who wants us to qualify when we were playing against the current African Champions,” the coach told Football411 in an interview.
“We played our hearts out and we wanted to win and qualify for the World Cup but FIFA didn’t like that. They awarded penalties for them (Nigeria) which were never penalties, and these things happens because FIFA wants them to qualify for the World Cup.
“It was a shame for Ethiopian football because we fought from the (first) blast of the whistle to the end. For me, Nigeria didn’t deserve to qualify because they were aided by FIFA, which is not good for the game of football.
Students protest ‘arbitrary hike’ in LASU fees, others
Irate students yesterday, disrupted normal activities at the Lagos House, Alausa, office of Governor Babatunde Fashola as they barricaded the entrance protesting what they described as “arbitrary hike” in school fees at the Lagos State University, LASU.
Led by Mr. Sunday Ashefun, the students besieged the office of the governor around 1pm and demanded among others; for the governor to immediately reduce the hike in LASU School fees, Federal Government should honour 2010 agreement entered with Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, COASU and Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic and other staff unions
The placard carrying students who were ushered in at about 2.30pm, also demanded for the implementation of 20 per cent budgetary allocation to education as recommended by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, conversion of Higher National Diploma, HND, to Bachelor of Technology, (B.Tech.) and reinstatement of all banned unions by the management, such as University of Lagos, UNILAG, College of Education, Ikere, Ekiti State among others.
The students also demanded for the removal of supervising minister for Ministry of Education with immediate effect before it is too late.
The students who said they were against victimisation of student union leaders in LASU, condemned plans by federal and state governments to introduce new tuition fee in the various campuses.
He said the increase had had its toll on the students of the institution as some of them had dropped out because they couldn’t afford to pay.
Ashefun described the situation as appalling, saying Nigerian students would not take anything less than a reduction of the “arbitrary fees “
“The fees are not just affordable, some of our colleagues have opted out of LASU simply because they cannot pay the N250,000 to N350,000 school fees.
“ These prohibitively high fees are some of the highest paid by any university in the country.Children of the poor can no more attend LASU and this is sad,” he said.
Fashola, who later addressed the aggrieved students, commended their comportment, saying it was a joint decision to increase LASU school fees after series of deliberations.
He explained that the hike in school fees was aimed at saving the school from total collapse as lecturers were leaving in droves for greener pastures
Led by Mr. Sunday Ashefun, the students besieged the office of the governor around 1pm and demanded among others; for the governor to immediately reduce the hike in LASU School fees, Federal Government should honour 2010 agreement entered with Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, COASU and Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic and other staff unions
The placard carrying students who were ushered in at about 2.30pm, also demanded for the implementation of 20 per cent budgetary allocation to education as recommended by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, conversion of Higher National Diploma, HND, to Bachelor of Technology, (B.Tech.) and reinstatement of all banned unions by the management, such as University of Lagos, UNILAG, College of Education, Ikere, Ekiti State among others.
The students also demanded for the removal of supervising minister for Ministry of Education with immediate effect before it is too late.
The students who said they were against victimisation of student union leaders in LASU, condemned plans by federal and state governments to introduce new tuition fee in the various campuses.
He said the increase had had its toll on the students of the institution as some of them had dropped out because they couldn’t afford to pay.
Ashefun described the situation as appalling, saying Nigerian students would not take anything less than a reduction of the “arbitrary fees “
“The fees are not just affordable, some of our colleagues have opted out of LASU simply because they cannot pay the N250,000 to N350,000 school fees.
“ These prohibitively high fees are some of the highest paid by any university in the country.Children of the poor can no more attend LASU and this is sad,” he said.
Fashola, who later addressed the aggrieved students, commended their comportment, saying it was a joint decision to increase LASU school fees after series of deliberations.
He explained that the hike in school fees was aimed at saving the school from total collapse as lecturers were leaving in droves for greener pastures
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