Press Releases

Fashola Charges Students On Peaceful And Orderly Protest

Feb 17, 2009 - Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Tuesday charged students to be mindful that the right to protest is a necessary benefit of democratic governance so long as it is done in a peaceful and orderly atmosphere.

Governor Fashola who gave the advice while addressing some Engineering Students of the Lagos State University, (LASU) Ojo who were at the gates of the Deputy Governor’s Office, Alausa to air their grievances about certain payments being demanded in the school.

Governor Fashola, who was returning from an official trip to Abuja,when he saw the students, added that democracy is all about freedoms and rights but that there are no absolute rights.

Said he: “Our democracy is about freedoms and rights, remember that there are no absolute rights. Every right imposes a corresponding duty. Your right stops where your duty to me starts”.

Governor Fashola enjoined the students to understand that “even as leaders, we do not have all the solutions. We always try to do the best that we can given the challenges we face. What benefits one section will create discomfort for another segment. Our responsibility is to achieve the delivery of the greatest good to the greatest number”.

Governor Fashola who commended the peaceful manner by which the students carried out their protest, appealed to them to go back to school and write their examinations which he said is the most important to them, their parents and guardians.

He promised to find out more about what the New Horizon tutorials which the students complained they are being forced to pay N25, 000 for, stressing that no one gains anything by putting others to discomfort.

He added that between himself, the Deputy Governor, the Vice Chancellor of LASU and the named don, the state government would find an acceptable solution to the issue, adding that he would not want to prejudge anything.

On the allegation that the students were being made to write examinations on party chairs and tables, Governor Fashola said what the university leaders have done is to improvise on what is available which is better than asking the students to sit on the bare floor to write exams.

In his words: “The University leaders have made an attempt. It is a sign of the difficulty of the times we are in. Globally, we are in very challenging and difficult times and it is affecting us. We however have our thinking cap on”.

Governor Fashola told the students that as he tries to find solution to the problem, the students must be part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Earlier, the leader of the students who is also the Deputy Speaker of LASU Students Union, Mr Jinadu Olamilekan alleged that a particular don has been extorting N25, 000 from engineering students in the form of a tutorial programme for engineering students.

He said the students complained to the State House of Assembly last year about the issue and following its intervention, the Vice Chancellor Professor Lateef Hussein denied any knowledge of the payment.

He added that the State University on September 24 this year issued a bulletin directing students to pay the N25,000.00, alleging that the dean of the faculty of engineering has prevented final year students who failed to pay from writing their exams.