UAD, which accused the school authorities of muzzling dissent, made the call in a statement jointly signed by its Convener, Mr. Gabriel Ojumah and Mr.Kunle Wizeman Ajayi, its General Secretary.
A pro-democracy organization, United Action for Democracy (UAD), has demanded the immediate recall of Mr. Kayode Bello, a student of the Nigerian Law School suspended for calling attention to the deplorable welfare conditions in the institution. UAD, which accused the school authorities of muzzling dissent, made the call in a statement jointly signed by its Convener, Mr. Gabriel Ojumah and Mr.Kunle Wizeman Ajayi, its General Secretary.
The organization wondered why the Nigerian Law School, which trains lawyers, would want to suppress freedom of expression. It likened the situation at the institution to a military barracks, saying its management prefers an environment inhabited by zombies.
"They hate any voice of dissent. They prefer praise-singers and 'mumus' (dunces) as students," UAD said.
It recalled that the University of Lagos and many other universities have been harassing students whenever they protest against degrading campus conditions.
The group instantiated this with the suspension of Mr. Femi Adeyeye, who was brutalized on the orders of the University of Lagos authorities and illegally detained at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons.
UAD called on all lovers of freedom to rise in defense of the suspended Mr. Bello, who did nothing more than write to the authorities of the Nigerian Law School to draw attention to the grim campus conditions. It equally called on the school authorities to immediately recall him and reduce fees charged by the institution to enable students from indigent homes to have access to legal education.
"There is nothing professional about an expensive school that has really not produced better lawyers than when the school was almost free," posited UAD.
The organization urged all law students in the country to organize, especially around the Alliance of Nigerian Students Against Neo-Liberal Attacks (ANSA), Legal Education Rights Agenda (LERA) and such other bodies to embark on coordinated lecture boycotts and force the Nigerian Law School authorities to recall Mr.Bello.
UAD also called on practicing lawyers and other concerned citizens to rise in defense of Mr.Bello and Mr. Adeyeye of the University of Lagos. It similarly demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of those behind the assault on Mr. Bello under the pretext of forcing him out of the Nigerian Law School campus, an immediate revamp of the management in a way that guarantees democratic rights and an end to the victimization of student activists on all campuses.
