Arogsthaboss🤴❤️🇳🇬

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE FIRST LADY OF NIGERIA Your Excellencies, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the First Lady @SenRemiTinubu, @officialABAT @NGRPresident, I write to you with utmost respect and a deep sense of urgency as a concerned student of Obafemi Awolowo University to draw your attention to the pressing challenges currently affecting students and academic life within the institution. Last year, the First Lady donated CNG buses and electric motorcycles to the university. The students welcomed this in good faith, believing it would improve transportation and reduce the existing challenges on campus. However, after the commissioning of these buses, the school management removed the previous transport system, including motorcycles and the commercial buses that students relied on daily. Over 35,000 students are now dependent on a limited number of CNG buses and a few tricycles. This has led to long queues every morning and evening, overcrowded buses where four students are forced into spaces meant for three, and delays that affect lectures and academic activities. Students now spend more to move around. Routes that were once direct have been broken into multiple stages, forcing students to pay more for less convenience. The ticket system that was introduced has also failed to remain consistent, with students paying multiple tickets for single trips. Movement within campus has become stressful. Areas that were once easily accessible are now difficult to reach. What used to be a simple daily routine has become a burden. The students consulted. The students engaged. When nothing changed, the students, through the Students’ Union, declared a 72-hour lecture boycott to push for solutions. Despite this, the management maintained that the situation was only a “teething phase” and insisted the system would stabilise. The problems persisted. Frustration continued to build. Eventually, the students took to peaceful protest, coming out en masse to express their displeasure and demand change. Now, instead of addressing these concerns, the students are being asked to vacate their hostels in the 5th week of the semester. This comes right after the protest, raising serious concerns about the timing and intention behind the decision. Is this a response to student welfare or a move to disperse students and weaken their ability to organise? This is a federal university. The students are citizens of this country. They deserve better. Motorcycles are not a backward means of transportation. They are practical, flexible, and efficient, especially in a campus environment. Removing them without providing a truly effective alternative is not progress, it is regression. The students are the largest stakeholders in this institution, yet their voices continue to be ignored. We ask: Are you aware of this situation? Do you consider this acceptable? And if not, what steps are you taking? We call on the Federal Government and the Office of the First Lady to intervene and ensure that student welfare is not sacrificed. The students are being oppressed and we ask you and the general public to come to our aid #SaveOAUNow #FixTheSystem – A concerned student