LAUTECH Management Proscribes Students’ Union Activities Over Alleged Crises

The management of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso in Oyo State has banned the activities of the school’s Student Union, indefinitely, over the alleged rowdiness of its officers.

The Registrar of the school, Kayode Ogunleye, disclosed this via a statement released last Friday.

“The University Management, having noticed the recent unpalatable and ugly situation on campus, which has led to a situation whereby Student Union leaders were attacking one another thus lost control of the leadership of the Union, decided that the Student Union of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, be proscribed with immediate effect.”

Following the union’s ban, the university management announced the formation of a caretaker committee in place of the proscribed union.

“To ensure continuity of interaction between students and Management of the University, a caretaker committee has been be put in place to interface between students and the University Management.

“By this release, the leadership of the Student Union should hand over property of the Student Union and the University in their custody to the Ag Dean of Student Affairs with immediate effect.

“We appeal to students of the University to continue to maintain peace and tranquility on campus and report any case of security threat,” the report informed.

Repeated calls to the affected officers by CAMPUS REPORTER to report their reactions on the development were unanswered.

The Trend

The proscription of the LAUTECH Student Union’s activities has placed the institution on the list of universities that have made a similar ban.

The Obafemi Awolowo University Student Union was suspended in November 2017, six months after the Union in the University Ibadan suffered a similar blow. Both cases occurred in the wake of student protests.

In justifying the indefinite suspension of the OAU student union, the school management accused the union leaders of actions that could negatively impact its reputation and endanger members of the university community.

While justifying their actions, the authorities of the University of Ibadan accused the union of disrupting academic activities by mobilising students for a massive protest against the non-issuance of identity cards and the ‘unruly behaviour’ of the president.

Interestingly, as the UI failed to issue ID cards to students, OAU also failed in this regard. At both schools, students are annually charged for ID cards.