Protesting students on Monday blocked the main entrance to the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
The grouse of the protesters was that the institution had failed to issue them student identity cards.
The peaceful protest saw students blocking the main entrance to the institution and thus preventing vehicles from having access to the school campus.
Also, as a result of the student demonstration, vehicular and commercial activities came to a standstill at the ever-busy Ife-Ede Road.
The students who declined to respond to interviews, however, made available a copy of an open letter forwarded to the OAU management detailing their grievances.
In the letter signed by the President of the Students’ Union, Isaac Omoboriowo, along with two other union officials, the students stated the reasons for the protest.
The letter stated that, “This is not a new issue; it is one we have persistently raised before the beginning of the first semester of this academic session. From then until now, the ninth week of the second semester, the Students’ Union has consistently engaged the university management on the failure to produce and distribute identity cards to students.
“This prolonged failure has created deep and far-reaching consequences: many students have been stopped and harassed by police and military personnel, unable to identify themselves as students because the institution has not issued ID cards. Students applying for scholarships, grants, or jobs have lost chances due to the absence of verifiable student identification.”
The students also lamented that graduating students preparing for the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, are also facing uncertainty, as there was no official ID from the school.
They further stated, “Exams are approaching, and the same students who paid for ID cards still don’t have them. Therefore, we make this clear declaration: If the university fails to issue ID cards to all students before the commencement of examinations, students will not sit for any examination.”
The student union leadership, however, revealed that the protest was not a threat but a legitimate demand.
The students also insisted that the protest was a stand against administrative negligence, adding that it is a call for dignity and accountability.
While warning that they will not go into the examination halls without their identification as students of the institution, they urged the OAU management to finalise and distribute the ID cards to all students across faculties.
On his part, OAU Vice Chancellor Prof. Simeon Bamire assured that he is committed to providing students with a conducive academic environment.
Speaking through J. Odedire, the Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Bamire stated that the university had, in a meeting, advanced reasons for the delay in issuing the ID cards.
“This unintended delay, which is attributable to the logistics of the incorporation of the smart features embedded in the ID card, has been addressed by the company charged with the production. The university authority is giving priority attention to ensuring that the first batch of the ID card is delivered latest by Wednesday (28/05/2025),” he said.
He, however, assured that the university would do all within its power to ensure students’ rights are not tampered with in anyway.
