>
By Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Indigenes of Ile-Ife, on Monday, resumed protest at the gate of the Obafemi Awolowo University(OAU), disrupting the free flow of movement in and out of the institution.
The group had last Friday protested against the non-appointment of Ife indigene as the new vice chancellor of the university.
The OAU Governing Council had last Thursday announced the appointment of a Professor of Agricultural Economics from the university’s Faculty of Agriculture, Adebayo Bamire, as the new vice chancellor.
The council’s chairman, Oscar Udoji, who made the announcement, said Bamire defeated 19 other applicants to emerge the 12th vice chancellor of the university.
The announcement, however, led to protest by some indigenes of Ile-Ife who locked the university’s main entrance, causing gridlock as students, staff and visitors to the institution were held up at the entrance for hours.
On Monday morning, the group of protesters who had been pushing for the appointment of an Ife indigene as the new vice chancellor, expressed the displeasure of the community over the decision of the institution’s governing council to appoint a non-indigene, despite their plea for an opportunity to produce vice chancellor for the first time in the history of the institution.
Speaking, the leader of the protesters, Bimbo Afolabi, said: “We are not thieves, we are not causing violence, we are asking for our rights.
“We are asking the management of Obafemi Awolowo University to allow an Ife Indigene to head this campus.”
The protesters were asking people to go back home, including the students of the university, adding that Ife indigenes were being enslaved on the campus and it was time for them to rule.