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Blame UNILAG Management For Impending Mass Exams Failure -ERC

An advocacy group, the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), has predicted mass failure in the forthcoming examinations at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). The group is also calling on Nigerians to hold the authorities of the university responsible for the predicted widespread failure.

In a press statement by the group, Hassan Taiwo Soweto, ERC coordinator accused the university management of forcing students to start examinations without adequate preparations, given that lectures are still ongoing following the resumption of the university after a brief closure.

The ERC argued that the  examinations should have been postponed to afford students the opportunity for adequate  preparations.

It stated that the institution was closed down on 8 April,  following a students’ protest over poor welfare conditions . According to Soweto,  students were given only four hours to vacate the campus, as armed policemen encircled the university, a situation that forced many to go home without their books.

"Asking those same students who just resumed on 2 May  to start examinations on 9 May, even while many lecturers are yet to conclude lectures, is insensitive, callous and a recipe for mass failure”, the statement said. 

The group  also noted  that students are still busy signing and submitting undertaking forms to fulfill conditions imposed by the university management for them to be accommodated into respective halls of residence and to write their examinations. 

The issues that precipitated the protest, the  ERC added, have remained unresolved. These, the group said, include high cost of food and commodities, poor water and electricity supply. These, it explained, are contributing to the difficulties experienced by students and will play a part  in the predicted mass failure. 

 "If the UNILAG management was sensitive and responsible, it would have postponed examinations for at least two weeks to give ample time for students to settle in and for lectures and tests to be concluded. "Unfortunately, UNILAG, like other Universities, is being managed by sadistic and despotic officials who revel in the misfortune of students and staff,”‎ the group stated.

To avert the failure predicted, the group called  on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other staff unions to prevail on the university management.

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Education