Protesters organized by the Joint
Campus Committee (JCC) of the National
Association of Nigerian Students (NANS)
were barred from gaining entrance into
the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in the
afternoon of September 25, 2013,
Wednesday.
The protesters began their march about 12
p.m., starting out from the bustling
Ojuelegba overhead bridge in the Surulere
area of Lagos, and stopping just outside the
main entrance gate at the University of
Lagos.
According to SaharaReporters the police
did not disrupt the protest, but that the
protesters found the university’s gates shut
against them. A source within UNILAG
disclosed that many of the university’s
students did not participate in the protest,
and in fact instigated the closure of the
gate to prevent the protest from drawing a
crowd within the institution.
In another development, the new national
President of NANS, Yinka Gbadebo, had
reportedly dissociated himself from any
protest held in solidarity with the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), whose
members have been on a long strike. In
earlier statements, Mr. Gbadebo took a
stance against both ASUU and the Federal
Government. However, the NANS leader has
been particularly critical of ASUU, accusing
the body of opposing efforts to revive
student union bodies in every institution.
His position has evolved to reveal
increasing sympathy with the Federal
Government.
In turn, the leader of the Lagos chapter of
the JCC of NANS accused Mr. Gbadebo and
other NANS leaders of “misrepresenting the
students at the federal level,” adding, “we
are not waiting on them for any
movement.”
The JCC protesters demonstrated outside
the UNILAG gate for several hours.
Throughout the protest, the gate remained
locked, with no one able to go in or out of
the gate until the protests ended in the late
afternoon.