… Destroy governor, wife’s offices as schools are shut

From Oluseye Ojo and Taiwo Oluwadare, Ibadan

Oyo Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, yesterday, ordered the immediate closure of all primary and secondary schools in the state.
The governor gave the directive to forestall further destruction of lives and property occasioned by violent protests in different parts of the city by students in protest against alleged privitisation of primary and secondary schools by the state government.
In a statement issued yesterday by his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Yomi Layinka, the governor condemned “yesterday’s incident, whereby some students and members of the public were coerced by labour to disrupt school sessions and engage in an unwarranted public protests and wanton destruction of property.”
The state governmenr alleged the protests were engineered by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
“The decision of the leadership of the NLC to declare total strike without existing labour dispute or ultimatum to the government contravenes all known labour laws and conventions.
“It is quite unfortunate that labour leaders at the national level, who ought to know better, also failed to avail themselves of the opportunity of meeting with officials of the state government to clear misconceptions about the intention of the government,” he said.
But, Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Ismail Olalekan-Alli, said there were 631 public secondary schools in the state, and the new educational initiative would affect less than 10 per cent of the schools.
The state, he said, had no intention to privatise, commercialise or cede any of its public secondary schools to any individual or group.
Meanwhile, the protesters caused standstill in Ibadan metropolis for many hours as they barricaded major highways in Agodi Gate, Government Secretariat, Mokola, Oke Bola, Oke Ado, Molete and so on. They also vandalised private and government property.
The students were seen carrying various dangerous objects, disturbing flow of traffic and going to schools to drag out their fellow students while shouting “Ajimobi, a thief!”
The irate students also moved to the residence of Chief Obafemi Awolowo at Oke Bola in Ibadan, where they tore off the image of Governor Ajimobi on a billboard in front of the house.
The mob also torched his wife, Florence’s office.
At the time the students arrived at the place, the gate of the office was locked. But, they forced the gate open and hurled stones on the place.
One of the policemen in the office was said to have been injured by the stones thrown into the compound by the protesters.
The billboard in front of the First Lady’s office was also vandalised as they dismantled the inscriptions signifying the office.
The students also moved en masse to the government secretariat in Ibadan and vandalised all the decorative bulbs, among other things in front of the secretariat.
Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Leye Oyebade, however, came to the rescue as he addressed the students in front of the government secretariat.
He appealed to them not to take laws into their hands and said it was  misinformation that government wanted to sell their schools.
This came as the national secretariat of the NLC, in conjunction with the Oyo State chapter ordered workers in the state to begin an indefinite strike today.
NLC National Vice chairman, Mr. Solomon Adelegan gave the directive after a congress held at the labour secretariat in Ibadan yesterday.
The strike, he vowed, would continue until the demands of the union were met.
The demands included withdrawal of all alleged trumped up charges levelled against the leadership of labour in the state, government should immediately pay workers the six months outstanding salaries and pension, rescind its decision to purportedly sell off any public schools in the state.  One of the students, Ajegbenje Elizabeth told Daily Sun that the students’ protest was triggered by information that the governor has allegedly concluded plans to sell their schools.
“Information that reached us was that Ajimobi has sold all our schools to private owners and we will now pay not less than N30,000 as school fees per term.” Another student, Hammed Olajide said they received some persons in their schools who beat them and their teachers out of classes and forced them to embark on the protest.
The students who protested at Oke Ado hurled stones on the vocational training centre established by Governor Abiola Ajimobi. They stormed the place in their hundreds, singing anti-Ajimobi songs. The staff at the centre, however, took to their heels for safety.
One of the students, Ajegbenje Elizabeth told Daily Sun: “Information that reached us was that Ajimobi has sold all our schools to private owners and we will start to be paying not less than N30,000 as school fees per term.”
Another student, Hammed Olajide, said they received some persons in their schools who beat them and their teachers out of class to embark on the protest.