Seyi Lasisi

It is alarming that the Olabisi Onabanjo University is becoming a military-like barrack, where students of the university are meant to undergo a series of searches by the security personnel before being allowed into the campus.

The experience is unimaginable that on getting to the school gate, students are asked to alight from the campus shuttle for serious checking and identification. This is humiliating to the fact that students going for classes, exams or appointments are compelled to wait in the queue for checking which most time takes several minutes.

It is worrisome that students are denied entrance at the school gate for either keeping hair, or for wearing clothes that have certain colours. For the management, they are flying colours and branding the symbol of cultism in the university.

The management has also resulted in condemning students dressing leading to students being turned back for their choice of wear. The female students have been the most affected as many have erroneously linked it to what causes sex for grades in most campuses.

The position of the university management in putting in place security checks is understandable as it’s to improve the security of students on campus and clamp down on cult gangs as well as to avoid a repeat of the clash between students’ cultist and indigene of Ago-Iwoye that broke out a few years ago where lives were lost.

However, we in the Movement for Socialist Alternatives (MSA) support improving the security of students on campus but we condemned the abuse and embarrassment students are meant to go through in every stop and search process by the security operatives.

It is the democratic right of every student to decide the choice of dress to wear in as much that it does not affect the right of another. The dressing is an expression of the freedom of humanity. It’s the recognition of our growth and development as humans.

University is an intellectual environment where knowledge is passed and not a dictatorial place for the management. It is embarrassing that the university management cannot keep to its announcement.

The management has spent millions to provide billboards around the campus to improve awareness of COVID-19 viruses. Awareness such as social distancing is not observed as students are meant to queue side by side.

We call on students’ union in the Olabisi Olabanjo University to organise themselves peacefully to condemn the inhuman policy of choosing what students should wear and also demand proper funding of public education, provision of water supply and electricity in the hostel.
In this light, demand also the democratic representation of students in every decision making organ of the university.

The university management should not ignore the challenge of improving education facilities to only concentrate attention on monitoring what students should wear.

Students should organise initiatives and peacefully resist the dress code policy including the Stop and Search harassment. It should be used to raise demands for improved welfare on campus and proper funding of public education. Students must challenge the SUG to publicly condemn this policy. However, there must be an independent campaign to canvass the interest of students.

OUR DEMANDS:

1. No to Dress Code forced on Students and Public Harassment at the Gate.
2. Yes to the Right to Choose what to wear without any strict punishment.
3. Build independent students campaign to organpise initiatives against victimization on campus.
4. Proper Funding of public education and democratic management by teaching and non-teaching staff.
5. For a democratic representation of students in every decision making body of the institution.

Join us and let’s organise together to defend democratic rights and improved social welfare in OOU.