Angry students of the University of Ibadan in Oyo State have staged a peaceful protest against the 82-day power outage at the University College Hospital.
UCH Ibadan is the teaching hospital where medical students from UI are trained. 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.
Aweda said the blackout was a power play between the authorities of the IBEDC and UCH.
“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.
“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.”
Among other things, the SUG President said the demands of the protesting students were “the immediate restoration of light to the University College Hospital and all hospitals in Nigerians who are currently facing the same blackout.”
He also called for the implementation of the 50 per cent discount on tariffs announced by the Federal Ministry of Power in 2024, as well as the revamping of the nation’s healthcare sector.
In his remarks, the Student Leader, Sunday Tobilola, said that the peaceful protests would be backed by a series of engagements with stakeholders to get it resolved.
He maintained that the failure to fix the power challenges would result in full action to drive home their demand.
The peaceful protesters, thereafter, moved from the UCH to the Governor’s Office at the Secretariat in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
At the secretariat, the protesters were received by Sunday Odukoya, the Executive Assistant on Security to Governor Seyi Makinde.
He assured the protesters that the state government would liaise with the Federal Government to find a solution to the crisis.
