From Peter Moses (Abeokuta) & Abdullateef Aliyu (Lagos)
Commuters were yesterday stranded on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as students protesting the ongoing strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) blocked the road.
The students in their hundreds under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) brought traffic flow to a halt.
Led by the chairman of NANS, Ogun State, Simeon Damilola, the students gathered at the Redeem axis and blocked both sides of the highway thereby preventing traffic flow both inward and outside Lagos.
Many travellers were trapped in the logjam and commercial activities grounded for hours following the protest.
The convoy of a prominent traditional ruler in the South West, the Olowu of Kuta, Adekunle Makama Oyelude, Tegbosun III was caught in the protest.
The monarch who addressed the students’ body urged them to open the expressway to ensure free flow of traffic while promising to take up the issue with the authorities concerned.
He appealed to the federal government to resolve the lingering crisis without further delay.
Speaking on behalf of the students, Simeon lamented what he described as the death of tertiary education in the country following the strike.
“There is no point arguing about who is at fault or what is to be done. It is very clear that the rulers underfund education and the Buhari government is failing in its promises to revamp education.
“As it is today, no higher institution in Nigeria is world class! Yet, our so-called public servants travel all over the world spending billions to send their kids abroad for studies.
“As major stakeholders in the educational sector, we are the ones who can save ourselves. Our lecturers suffer the same hardships and mal-developments we suffer,” he said.
While the blockade lasted, the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) spokesperson in the state, Florence Okpe, advised motorists to use alternative routes in order not to compound the logjam.
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