January 27, 2015 – Lagos State Government on Tuesday said it was yet to be briefed on the intent of the protest march purportedly being planned by Joint Action Forum (JAF), which had set aside Wednesday, January, 28 to march on Government House, Alausa.
In a Press release signed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Otunba Fatai Olukoga, the Government described the proposed protest march as badly timed and ill-conceived especially at this period when electioneering campaigns are gathering momentum in the State.
The Special Adviser wondered why JAF should be so concerned about creating issues in schools when it is not an interested party and said the atmosphere in the 32 year old institution is peaceful adding that the State Government is yet to be briefed on the intent of the protest march.
He urged all those to be involved to refrain from activities that may infringe on the fragile political atmosphere of the State.
Olukoga also advised heads of State- owned tertiary institutions (i.e. LASU, LASUCOM, LASPOTECH, MOCPED and AOCOED, to accordingly monitor and supervise attendance of lecturers at their respective institutions henceforth so that the institutions would not be infiltrated.
He said that concerned students of the Lagos State University have disassociated themselves from the planned action which he alleged the students have said was not in their best interest since they have just resumed from a student action.
“The Students said they are tired of any form of ASUU strike and protest that may make them grow old on campus, as most lecturers who instigate strikes do not have their children on campus.
“They also called on LASU students to avoid any form of protest in conjunction with some unknown groups who call themselves Joint Action Front who are neither members nor stakeholders of LASU community.
“The students also warned their colleagues to avoid any form of protest in conjunction with the unknown groups as the students would be the ones to suffer for any fractured academic programme again while the lecturers will sit back and collect salaries and their children would also be in school elsewhere.
“The students added that any staff of LASU who fails to engage in dialogue with the management should not use Lasuites as scapegoats by affecting the stable academic calendar as proposed by the management and thereby prolong the stay on students on campus.
“They informed the Lagos State Governor that any protest on Wednesday either in LASU or in Alausa is staged by some garage touts and that Lasuites should disregard such protest as a direct attempt to cripple the efforts of the Governor with regards to the campaign for continuity in Lagos”, Olukoga said.
