July 07, (THEWILL) – Students of the Bayelsa State-owned Niger Delta University (NDU), Wilberforce Island, have staged a peaceful protest over plans by the school’s management to introduce uniforms for undergraduates.
It was gathered that over 20,000 students were in agreement on the protest that took place on Monday inside the campus at Amassoma in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.
The placard-carrying students, who went around the campus, also condemned the continued ban on the Students’ Union Government and the closure of fees portal for old students.
The students are calling on the state’s Governor Douye Diri to sack the Vice Chancellor, Professor Samuel Edoumiekumo, who is angling for a second tenure, saying the policies are ridiculous.
Some of the students, who claimed anonymity, alleged that engineering students would pay as much as N30,000 each for their uniforms while students of other faculties would pay N20,000 each.
Parents have also had their say on the burning issues with some expressing the view on social media that it was a sign of worsening relationship between the school management and the students.
Others said the introduction of school uniforms was a sign of high-handedness by the school management and open display of tyranny.
Some observers also reacted on social media describing the opinion that the Vice Chancellor, Samuel Edoumiekumo, would “use his own hands to bring down the peace in NDU he used his own hands to build.”
The era of Edoumiekumo has witnessed great strides in the development of infrastructure; but there are allegations that he has favoured new structures in some faculties and neglected the Faculty of Engineering.
Earlier this year, Edoumiekumo had come under attack over the discrimination of a physically-challenged man who was a Deputy Bursar of the school, which sparked a protest.
The man was denied the opportunity of appearing for an interview for the position of Bursar and has remained suspended following the protest, although Governor Douye Diri has addressed the management on the development.
The growing negative developments in the school have become concerns for many stakeholders, including parents and students among others.
Investigations revealed that the decision on the uniforms was to avert incidents like the killing of an engineering student at an eatery through an accidental discharge of security men’s bullets and another by alleged cultists earlier this year.
Another argument the university has put forward is the issue of indecent dressing by female students and that introduction of school uniforms would go a long way in addressing it.
When the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Idoni Indezi, was contacted on phone, he said the closure of the fees portal was a policy of the school, but maintained that it was still open for this session.
Indezi said the school management has not fixed fees for uniforms and that discussions are still ongoing at departmental and faculty levels.
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