Following Monday’s massive protest in Akure, the Ondo State capital by aggrieved students of All States College of Education, Ero-Akure, some concerned parents have alleged scam over failure by Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, to enlist graduating students of the college for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme.
The graduating students of All States College, Ero-Akure, a degree-awarding affiliate of the AAUA, had taken to the streets on Monday, during which they barricaded the Ilesha-Akure-Benin highway, in protest against the non-inclusion of their names in the AAUA portal, for the mandatory NYSC programme.
During the protest, the students held hostage the college’s proprietor, Mr Peter Fasua, for over six hours before he was eventually rescued by a combined team of riot policemen and soldiers.
However, a spokesman for the students’ parents, Mr. Rotimi Iwajomo, expressed disappointment in the Vice-Chancellor of the AAUA, Prof.Olugbenga Ige, accusing him of failing to fulfill his promise to the students that they would partake in the NYSC programme upon their graduation.
In a video clip that has gone viral, Prof. Ige promised that students of the college would partake in the NYSC programme once they graduate.
“I want to believe that it is either the VC scammed the innocent students when he addressed them during their matriculation, or some of his staff engaged in some underhand deals to con our children.
“This is because, he openly gave them the confidence of graduating and serving in the NYSC programme, and more so, in their course of study, the Adekunle Ajasin University prepared their exams and marked them,” Iwajomo lamented.
Iwajomo, as a result, called on the Ondo State Government, through the Ministry of Education, to wade in and call the VC to order.
Reacting too, President of the institution’s Students Union Government, Mr. Olusola Gbenga, said the school had two sets of graduates waiting to be mobilised for the national service.
Gbenga said that the Vice Chancellor of the AAUA assured them during their matriculation that they would proceed with the NYSC programme after graduation.
Gbenga said a total of 400 graduates were waiting to be mobilised.
He said: “We now have two sets of graduates waiting to be mobilised. We protested because our school’s name was not on the portal of AAUA. The VC who was DVC then promised us that we would go for the NYSC programme.
“What is the purpose of going to school without NYSC? We will continue the protest until we are sure of our fate.”
But in his defence, spokesman for the AAUA, Mr. Victor Akinpelumi, described the allegation as fallacy.
He urged the students to meet their proprietor for proper guidance.
“The allegation is not correct. It is fallacy. I will advise the students to channel their grievances to the Proprietor/ Registrar of Ero College of Education, Ero,” Akinpelumi quipped.