Some students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Monday held a peaceful protest at the main entrance to the institution over the non-issuance of identity cards to them by the management.
During the demonstrations, the protesters prevented commercial vehicles from entering the university campus, leading to traffic gridlock on Ife/Ede road.
Also, many commuters travelling along the busy Ife/Ede road when the protest was ongoing had a hectic time moving through the gridlock.
Many people having businesses on campus also had difficulty going into the institution’s premises, with the students checking all the vehicles allowed in to ensure that commercial buses did not access the premises.
Though the students did not grant an interview when approached by journalists during the protest, an open letter to OAU management, signed by the President of Greet Ife Students’ Union, Isaac Omoboriowo, and two other officials of the union, revealed the reason behind the protest.
The leadership of the body declared that the students would not sit for the second-semester examinations until their identity cards were produced and distributed.
‘This is not a new issue; it is one we have persistently raised before the beginning of the first semester of this academic session. From then until now, the ninth week of the second semester, the Students’ Union has consistently engaged the university management on the failure to produce and distribute identity cards to students.
‘This prolonged failure has created deep and far-reaching consequences: many students have been stopped and harassed by police and military personnel, unable to identify themselves as students because the institution has not issued ID cards. Students applying for scholarships, grants, or jobs have lost chances due to the absence of verifiable student identification’, the open letter read in parts.
Listing other negative implications of not having their ID cards, the students’ body said graduating students preparing for the NYSC are also facing uncertainty, as there was no official ID from the school.
The letter further read, ‘Exams are approaching, and the same students who paid for ID cards still don’t have them. Therefore, we make this clear declaration: If the university fails to issue ID cards to all students before the commencement of examinations, students will not sit for any examination.
‘This is not a threat; it is a legitimate demand. It is a stand against administrative negligence. It is a call for dignity and accountability. We hereby urge the university management to immediately finalise and distribute ID cards to all students across faculties, and we will not go into the examination halls without our rightful identification as students of this great university’.
Responding, the management, in a statement by the Dean, Division of Student Affairs, Prof. J. Odedire, assured of the commitment of the Prof Simeone Bamire administration in ensuring that the students enjoy a conducive environment on campus.
Odedire also said during a meeting he held with the leadership of the Students’ Union, he explained the reason for the delay in the production of the ID cards.
‘This unintended delay, which is attributable to the logistics of the incorporation of the smart features embedded in the I.D. card, has been addressed by the company charged with the production. The university authority is giving priority attention to ensuring that the first batch of the I.D. card is delivered latest by Wednesday (28/05/2025).
‘The importance of a means of identification cannot be overemphasised, and the university administration will do all within her powers to ensure that our students’ right is not tampered with in any way’, Odedire said.
