Angry Nigerian Students Besiege Vice Chancellor’s Office
Students of the University of Ibadan (UI) in Oyo state have besieged the office of the Vice Chancellor of the university in protest against the decision of the management of the institution to ration power supply to the students.
It was gathered that the protest which started at 11pm on Tuesday and resumed by 5:30am on Wednesday.
It was ignited by the announcement made by the school authorities in an internal memo where the Vice Chancellor directed the Works and Maintenance Department to implement a 10-hour power supply to the students.
The internal memo from the Director of Works to the Chief Engineer, dated July 16, 2024 signed by one Engr. O. A. Adetolu, and sighted by SaharaReporters showed that the Vice Chancellor directed that power should strictly be supplied to the students of the institution for 10 hours daily.
According to the memo, the 10-hour power supply should be broken into 6 hours in the day time starting from 8am to 2pm and four hours at night starting from 10pm to 2am.
The management of the University on Tuesday blamed the power supply rationing on campus on the electricity crisis in Nigeria.
According to the University management, there is currently a severe energy crisis on a national scale and this has affected supply from the national grid to the institution.
The management said that the daily power supply from the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has dropped to about 10-12 hours.
The university said, “The daily power availability of 18-22 hours from the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has dropped to about 10-12 hours.”
“It is pertinent to note that the University has been alive to its responsibility by augmenting whatever level of supply received from the national grid through local power generation, although at rising costs, especially fuel, among other power generation inputs.
“The supply from the University Power Station will augment grid supply between 10.00a.m- 2.00p.m and 11.00p.m – 6.00am
