Two years after its imposition, the Senate of the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, has lifted the ban placed on students’ union activities in the institution.
The decision to lift the ban was reached at the Senate’s meeting of August 30, 2019 during which the Dean of Students Affairs, Prof. I.A. Abiona, made a passionate appeal for the lifting of the ban to allow for the conduct of elections for the students’ body during the 2018/2019 session.
The institution’s Senate had on May 30, 2017 suspended students’ union activities until further notice following a protest over the delay in the issuance of digitised identity cards. On the proposal to lift the suspension, Abiona stated that 140 persons were tried in connection with the protest by the students’ disciplinary committee with some receiving sanctions while others were acquitted.
According to him, the Student Affairs Division will ensure that a purposeful leadership of students emerges by raising the bar of eligibility, organisation of pre-election workshop and post-election leadership retreat for winners.
Abiona noted that most of the former union leaders fingered in the protest had shown enough remorse and indicated the desire to uphold the rules and regulations and cooperate with the university’s administration.
