OAU students protest transport shortage, demand buses on campus

Students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest, demanding additional buses to ease transportation challenges on campus.

The placard-carrying students blocked the university’s main gate while singing solidarity songs.

The Deputy Speaker of the Students’ Union, Nasiru Olajide, said the protest was aimed at drawing the attention of the OAU management to the transportation crisis confronting students.

Olajide said as responsible students, the demonstration was peaceful and focused solely on the transport challenges on campus.

He noted that the available buses were grossly inadequate for over 40,000 students, as well as artisans, teaching and non-teaching staff, and others on campus.

Olajide said: “We appreciate the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, for donating 50 buses and 30 tricycles to ease transportation on campus.

“However, these buses are insufficient for the student population, and most of the existing buses are in poor condition.”

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Olajide added that students often spend long hours in queues waiting for buses, sometimes missing lectures.

He added that the shortage of campus buses had increased transportation costs for students living off-campus.

“We need more vehicles. We are calling on philanthropists, government officials, and other stakeholders to support us with additional buses,” he said.

Olajide also appealed to the OAU management to provide alternative accommodation for students in AWO Hostel, who had been asked to vacate the facility for renovation.

He stressed that the protest was peaceful, with no incidents of vandalism or destruction of property.

The OAU Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, has yet to speak on the development as of press time.