By Campus Reporter
Final-year students in the Department of Library and Information Science (LIS), Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado Ekiti, were recently forced to pay N12,000 to another student’s account ahead of their Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) project defence.
Several students in the department told Campus Reporter that the payment was not made through the school portal, where other official payments are made, but through a private account number provided by the general class governor, Kolawole Olajuwon.
But the Dean of the Faculty of Education, which houses the LIS department, Timothy Akinwamide, a professor, said the class governor has been asked to refund every student, explaining that the money was never requested by the department or the lecturers.
The university’s Dean of Student Affairs, Deji Fasuyi, a professor, also told our reporter that the payment was not sanctioned by the university.
The Payment
The students, who recently completed their SIWES attachments, said they were asked to make the payment to an account number provided by their class governor, Mr Olajuwon. The account number belonged to one of the students, Adenike Odugbemi.
SIWES, an initiative of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), is an avenue for students to acquire practical industrial skills and also prepare them for the workplace environment after graduation from school. The ITF remunerates students after the completion of the programme.
At EKSU, 300-level students from the Department of Library and Information Science went on their six-month industrial training programme, which lasted from May to October.
One student, who didn’t want to be named, told Campus Reporter that the class governor, Mr Olajuwon, sent a message to the class group, demanding that the students pay a sum of N12,000 for “defence presentation and welfare”.
The class governor also threatened that students who fail to make payment before this deadline would be exempted from the defence which begins on Wednesday, 11 November.
“Only those who made the presentation payment are eligible to present,” the notice by the class governor warned.
The class governor, Mr Olajuwon, told Campus Reporter that the payment was requested by the department. He failed to explain who specifically made the request.
University reacts
When contacted, the Dean of the university’s Student Affairs, Deji Fasuyi, a professor, said the university was not aware of the payment.
Mr Fasuyi later explained that the students came up with the payments themselves to organise refreshments during the presentation.
It’s the agreement amongst the students to entertain themselves and the officials present,” he told our reporter. “The contribution of N12,000 per student is a sole decision of the students and has nothing to do with the department or faculty.”
The Dean of the Faculty of Education, Mr Akinwamide, a professor, said he investigated and found that the students usually contribute among themselves to serve refreshments among themselves and the lecturers during the presentation.
Mr Akinwamide said the payment was never requested by the department, and that he has directed that the students be refunded.
Students also confirmed the directive for a refund to Campus Reporter.
“The Dean came to where we are doing the SIWES presentation and asked our general governor to refund the money to us,” one student of the department said.
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