OAU Students Miss Lectures As Transportation Crisis Rock Institution

By Kabir Adejumo

The students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, have lamented the difficulties they experience, as transportation crisis took another dimension shortly after the resumption for 2017/2018 session. 

Putting the record straight, the transportation challenges cannot be disconnected from the institution’s new accommodation policy which has reduced the number of students staying on campus.

More students who live off-campus are often seen in large numbers queuing day and night while waiting for buses to convey them to their respective places.

According to the students, this often make them late for lectures every morning.

However, as expected, the affected students groan and decry the state of transportation deficiency as some of them are said to always trek from the university campus to the school gate on daily basis due to stress of struggling for buses which since resumption has injured some of them, most especially the female folk.

While narrating her experience, Ayomide Fashanu, a fresh student who could not secure accommodation on campus told our correspondent that she has missed two classes this week having trekked from the university entrance to her department due to scarcity of busses.

“It was so painful that twice this week I have missed my classes. Getting to campus gate and had to wait for more than an hour. I resolved to trekking from campus gate to my department in White House. The bus stop is always crowded with students but no buses to convey them. I hope this is resolved as soon as possible. It is killing”

Another student, Abiola Akinyemi put the blame on the university management as he argued that the institution admitted more than its capacity.

“OAU management is greedy. Go to schools like UI, they don’t admit up to 4000 students for a session but in OAU, the management eats more than what they can chew. They decongested the hostels which is a brilliant one but refuse to regulate the number of students admitted. It is simple mathematics. They should know that students made to live off campus will be at the receiving end.”, he said. “It will be more dangerous by the time all returning students resume fully.”

Muyiwa Afolabi, a student of department of English said: “this transportation crisis is affecting our academics. It has now become a daily routine for most of us to miss our first lectures.”

He buttressed that the incessant transportation crisis is prologed because of the absence of active students union body.

“If the union is available, we can’t suffer this hard. At least the transportation committee would have attended to the menace”, he said.

A campus shuttle driver, who identified himself as Opeyemi also said the transportation crisis is as a result of new accommodation policy.

“We transporters, also feel for students, as the rate of students living in town has increased and has also raised the number of daily bus users. And there is a law that stipulates a regulated number of busses that operate on campus per day.

Meanwhile, while speaking with journalists, the university through its Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olanrewaju, has said the crisis has nothing to do with the University and it is not the duty of the school to provide transportation for students as management has no affair with the movement of students.