On Wednesday, angry students of the University of Ibadan in Oyo State staged a peaceful protest over the 82-day power outage at the University College Hospital.
The teaching hospital has been experiencing a power outage since last year due to debts owed to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
Addressing journalists, the President of the UI Student Union Government, Comrade Bolaji Aweda, described the blackout as persistent, saying it has crumbled academic activities within the hospital and the university. He said the situation has lingered for over 82 days as students could not study well.
“The blackout has lingered for over 82 days now and for over two months, there has been no light at the University College Hospital which has affected the livelihood of our students,” he said.
“If UCH, the foremost healthcare hospital in Nigeria, is this bad, one can imagine what other health institutions in the country will look like,” he added.
Also, the immediate past SU president, Tobiloba Samuel, said they had explored consultative means with the managements of UCH and UI, which yielded nothing. He said the union would issue an ultimatum after the peaceful protest if the relevant stakeholders still failed to act.
“The lack of electricity is why we are out on the street today. We have reached out to the school management severally. It is a kind of powerplay between the University College management and the University of Ibadan management,” he further explained.
The Student Union Government (SUG) President emphasized that the protesters were demanding the immediate restoration of electricity to the University College Hospital (UCH) and other hospitals across Nigeria currently experiencing power outages. He also urged the government to implement the 50% tariff reduction announced by the Federal Ministry of Power in 2024 and to prioritize the revitalization of the nation’s healthcare sector.
In his statement, the Student Leader, Sunday Tobilola, affirmed that the peaceful protests would be accompanied by ongoing engagements with stakeholders to ensure the resolution of these pressing issues.
The SUG President warned that failure to address the ongoing power challenges would compel the students to escalate their actions to press home their demands.
Following the peaceful demonstration, the protesters marched from the University College Hospital (UCH) to the Governor’s Office at the Secretariat in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.
At the secretariat, they were received by Sunday Odukoya, the Executive Assistant on Security to Governor Seyi Makinde. Odukoya assured the protesters that the state government would collaborate with the Federal Government to resolve the crisis promptly.
