LIVE: “I can not give you a particular date” – CoMUI Provost, Rejected by Protesting UItes
In an address to protesting UItes at the UCH Administrative Complex, the Provost of the College of Medicine, UI, Professor Temidayo Ogundiran, affirmed that he can not give a specific date for the reconnection of the Alexander Brown Hall and Ayodele Falase Post-Graduate Hall, pleading with protesting students to put an end to the demonstrations.
This follows a supposed meeting alongside the Chief Medical Director, UCH, Prof Jesse Otegbayo, with the Oyo State Commissioner of Police. However, this was soundly rejected by protesting students.
The Provost began his address by saying, “Temporary discomfort does not take away from the greatness of UItes. By the grace of God, the end is in sight. We have come here to identify with you. We understand all you have been going through”. He added, “When you have a longstanding problem, you need to think out of the box to find a longstanding solution. The problem at hand requires a lot of planning and a lot of patience. UCH, together with College of Medicine has been indebted to IBEDC to the cost of almost 500 Million Naira. You should know that a lot of this 500 Million Naira is contributed to by a lot of source like ABH and Ayodele Falase Hall. IBEDC doesn’t know ABH, Falase, UCH. IBEDC only knows UCH. And IBEDC has mentioned that until the last kobo is paid, power will not be restored”
Concerning the restoration of power, he disclosed that reconnection will be in phases. “The solution that has been agreed upon is that this power will be restored in phases starting with the clinical areas. From the arrangement of UCH, the power that comes to the clinical area actually comes through the School of Nursing. This is a wired issue that predates all of us. The next phase is to escalate this further to other areas including ABH and Falase”.
In response to this, many of the assembled protesters uttered loud complaints, to which he said, “Be mindful what you’re saying, especially those of you in the College of Medicine. We are your parents.”. This led to an exchange from students about percieved poor treatment and threats from the Management.
When asked for a particular date for restoration, he said, “I can not say that. All I can assure you is that the University of Ibadan Vice Chancellor, Commissioner of Police, and members of the College are going to have a meeting with IBEDC. You have registered your displeasure and that has been well established. It is time now to sheathe the sword”. “I appeal to you on behalf of the Vice Chancellor, UCH, College, and the Commissioner of Police to sheathe your sword. We assure you that power will be restored as soon as possible”, he concluded, as students voices loudly against the ambiguous nature of the announcement”.
The Provost’s address cooncides with a notice sent out by the College of Medicine a short while ago, today. In the notice, signed by the Secretary to the College, Dr A.E Odedele, there was an appeal for patience and cooperation as they [CoMUI] work towards a solution to the continuing power crisis, emphasizing efforts made to alleviate the solution, and calling for prioritising of patients in the hospital.
The notice was met with an equal level of rejection as the address, with many Brownites decrying the College’s lack of attention towards their plight all the while.
As of Press time, CoMUI officials were in a meeting with student leaders. The product of said meeting was announced by the UI SU President to be another meeting on Monday, 17th February 2025, with the aforementioned stakeholders to discuss a path forward. The protest has thus been suspended indefinitely.
