By Oyinkansayo Wole-Bodunde
Students from the University of Ibadan took to the streets of Ibadan, Oyo State, to protest the prolonged power outage at the University College Hospital (UCH), which has lasted for 82 days.
The blackout was caused by a dispute between UCH and the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) over unpaid debts.
The students, who marched from the UCH main gate to the State Secretariat, carried placards with messages like “Restore Our Electricity, We are suffering.” They sang solidarity songs, drawing attention to their pain and calling for government intervention.
Bolaji Aweda, President of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), University of Ibadan, explained that the power outage has severely affected students living in the Alexander Brown Hall and Ayodele Falase Postgraduate Hall. “We are protesting against what is happening and, of course, our students are affected. For 82 days, there has been no light at UCH, and this is due to the inability of UCH to pay its electricity bill to IBEDC. IBEDC has demanded that UCH settle its debt before they will restore power.”
The protest was peaceful, with security personnel from the Nigeria Police, Nigerian Army, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) present to maintain order. Executive Assistant to the Governor on Security, Mr. Sunday Odukoya, commended the students for their good behavior and promised to deliver their message to Governor Seyi Makinde.
