… Issues are being addressed – PROVOST
By Abdulrasheed Akogun
Sandwich Students of the Kwara State University, College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies (CAILS) campus, earlier today staged a peaceful protest against the instruction changing the examination venue to a centre outside the School.
The Students in their hundreds converged at the School premises (CAILS) in the early hours of today, protesting the development, stressing that the examination venue change comes with several challenges, prominent of which is the economic realities of the Country.
Speaking on behalf of the Protesting Students, Usman Saheed, a 300 level Student, bemoaned the sudden change in the examination venue from CAILS to KWASU conference centre along Sango road, Ilorin.
He said “We all come from far and wide, some come from as far as Offa, Ogbomoso etc, so we had to rent an apartment here, so we’ll participate in the programme fully.
“We’ve been receiving our lectures here without hassles, so it is surprising that we were communicated last week by the management of KWASU that henceforth our exams will be shifted away from our school (CAILS) rather, we’ll be required to undertake our exams at KWASU conference centre along Sango.
“While we naturally wouldn’t have issues with whatever arrangement KWASU are making, however the economic reality of the Country will make it problematic for us all.
“Infact one of the major reason why we settled for CAILS is because we already preplanned our finances and budget.
“More so, this isn’t the first affiliated programme to be initiated in the Country, those running affiliated programmes of EKSU, ABU etc don’t travel down to the School premises to undertake exams.
“Thus, we plead with the management to respect the agreement that led to us applying to undertake our degree programme here.
“They should allow us conclude our programme and introduce the new rule to those coming behind us, at the stage of applying. Therefore, terms and conditions will apply from inception.
Speaking on the development, Dr. Saad Adi, Provost College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies (CAILS), promised the resolve of the management to find an amicable solution to the imbroglio, adding that the Students should exercise calm and patience while the issues are sorted in no distant time.
He said “This program is a collaborative one. Every decision is supposed to be taken together. We were shocked that even the information was not taken properly communicated through the established adminstrative and managerial channel.
“Rather what we saw, was KWASU management assembling our sandwich Students without our knowledge a few days to exam and directing them to proceed to Sango for their exams.
“This is unacceptable. However, we appeal to students to remain calm as every step is being taken to ensure amicable settlement.”
Reacting to the Development, the Public Relations Officer of KWASU, Dr. Mrs. Aliyu expressed her inability to comment on the subject matter, stressing that she needed further briefing on the matter. She however promised to revert, a promise which wasn’t fulfilled as at the time of going to the press.
