Full Text Of The Deputy Dean Of Students, Dr. ‘Demola Lewis’ Speech, Delivered At The Students’ Union Congress Today

Dr Demola Lewis had come to speak with the students as regards pressing issues of physical resumption and accommodation tabled before the Congress.

Let me explain where I’m coming from. Listen, I am a UIte, I mean all my degrees were got here. I am made in UI. B.A., M.A., PhD, everything. So, my entire life is in the University of Ibadan and I’m shockingly in love with this University. Now, my dear people, this is something that we have to look at. The Federal Government has hands off accommodation for several years now. So, it’s the money that you pay for accommodation that is used to run the hostel. Are you following? So, worse still, the Federal Government can only offer the University six million naira in a month to run the university. Now, it is expecting that the university will generate Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to run the university. Now, you know how difficult that is, given the economic crisis that we are in.

So, only in the first of April, the tariff for electricity went up by 42.6%. So, the debt of the tariff for all the people who live on campus adds up. So now, we have to pay 42.6% increase. Now, it’s going to come to the Halls of Residence, is it going to? Where is that going to go? Plus, we have to have a 50% capacity this session. It is not UI that said, it’s NCDC and, believe me, they’re going to come once we resume to inspect our facilities to be sure that that is what we’re doing. Because, when it comes to UI, they pay a lot of attention to us. So, it’s going to be 50%, don’t worry yourself about that. We’ve had meetings even over the weekend with the Hall Wardens and with iTEMS, we know exactly how many people there are in every Hall of Residence. We know exactly how many we can take. The number has been completed. Akeju is in that committee with the Vice President. Both of them are in that committee and they’re in that committee because we want to carry the students along. Nobody is here deceiving anybody. We just want to push the university ahead. 

My dear people, look, even the virtual classes was based on the fact that we just had to keep on moving. Ordinarily, the university would have opened the hostel accommodation and say you guys should come in, we couldn’t afford the Covid-19 protocols. The money that we are going to use for the Covid-19 protocols is coming from the money you guys have paid as fees and that has to be in place before you people can come in. As I’m speaking with you, after I’m done here, I’m still going to meet up with the Wardens this night to put final touches to the logics which the Vice Chancellor will graciously approve because we’ve already discussed with him. So, there’s a lot of work going. These people know exactly how many times committees are meeting and pushing. There’s no decision by the University of Ibadan that is not premeditated! You might think that the university is slow but that’s because we’re thinking through everything that we do. 

When we were going to start the ERT, it was thought that it was going to crash, we can’t do it. Everything was premeditated for weeks, for months. And I can say that because I didn’t speak with any committee that you will do the ERT. And so, they drilled themselves like horses to ensure that it happened, and they did. It wasn’t perfect. Nothing is perfect. But then we tried our best. Yes, we did! So, I’m here because I invited myself. I pleaded with Akeju that he should give me a few minutes just to talk to you. Guys, cool temper. The truth of the matter is, we’re just trying to do the best that we can. I can say it categorically that the government is irresponsible. I mean, and that’s my personal opinion. If they’re trying to kill the public university that has the brightest of the brains around, are we going to help them to do so? Imagine that there’s a protest tomorrow, what’s going to happen? Just one virtual announcement and the school is shut. That’s it! And then, we go through a cycle of another, how many months? And then, it’s going to be upon us again. Are you following what I’m saying? 

So, let’s not be self-destructive. I can see a few hands up, but I just want you to understand that the university is very sincere. Besides, Akeju and his team has written again through Students Affairs and, by the way, I’m Deputy Dean of Students, I hope you know? So, Akeju has written again pleading with the university administration and the Vice Chancellor that they should revisit the matter at a Senate meeting to be called this week. I can assure you that that will happen because the Vice Chancellor has said also that the Dean and I should make sure that we are there to push the matter and we will push the matter. We will try to appeal to the university and I must tell you that Akeju and the Vice President did all they could in that committee insisting that look, we had to come down, and their proposal was presented to Senate. That was the body item in the recommendation that the Senate had to go through in that meeting and the Senate voted for 100%. Now, it’s going to be revisited, and hopefully, it will come out better. 

But, what I’m saying, ladies and gentlemen, is in all of this thing, nobody is trying to deceive anybody. Let me tell you, there are lecturers who have wards and children on this campus. Some of them, three children. There are lecturers whose spouses are postgraduate students on campus. We’re paying fees. Most of them.

So, it’s not because we aren’t affected, we are affected! You guys are complaining about data and other stuff, my dear, it wasn’t just classes that I used data for. It wasn’t just uploading and downloading things that I use data for. I use data for meetings. Marathon meetings for the university, and I wasn’t paid a kobo for it. If anything, the Federal Government has reduced my salary by 25% with the new IPSS scheme, and that’s what ASSU’s being fighting.

Finally, ladies and gentlemen, I think we should all be united in insisting that the Federal Government lives up to his responsibility to own the university financially because, look, when ASUU is fighting the battle and people are crucifying ASUU for it, you don’t realise that we’re shooting ourselves in the legs. We should all speak in unison. That’s what is important so that we can save the public university. There are universities in this country where people pay ₦2.6 million as fees, and that’s the minimum. In that same university, they pay ₦5.6 million if you’re a medical student. They have students arriving in their groups. Jokingly, I was saying yesterday if I could find a child of a Local Government Chairman in UI. So, we realize that people don’t give a damn about you and I.