FIC Report (Oyo State) – Medical students of the University of Ibadan (UI), Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, today, Monday 10th February, staged a protest at the venue of a meeting between the Federal Government and the management of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
The demonstration was in response to the prolonged power outage at the hospital complex, which has now lasted for 100 days.
The meeting, which was convened by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, was aimed at addressing the electricity crisis crippling Nigeria’s premier teaching hospital.
Led by former UI Students’ Union President, Samson Samuel, the protesting students expressed their frustration over the blackout, which, they said, had severely disrupted their academic and clinical activities. They therefore demanded an immediate timeline for implementing the Federal Government’s promised 50% electricity tariff discount for tertiary hospitals and called for the urgent restoration of power at UCH.
“We are here today to express our displeasure and frustration over more than 100 days of electricity darkness at UCH. As medical students, we rely heavily on electricity to power our equipment and facilities, but this outage has made it impossible for us to carry out our academic and clinical activities effectively,” Tola, one of the students, said.
Another student, Tobi, speaking to our information officer, emphasised that the crisis did not only impact the health care services at the tertiary hospital, but has adversely affected their training as medical students. Expanding the impact of the black out, Tobi said, many “Surgeries and other critical medical procedures have been canceled due to the lack of electricity, putting patients’ lives at risk.”
Despite attempts to pacify them, the students insisted on speaking directly with the Minister of Power before leaving the premises.
Other reports indicate that the blackout, which began over 100 days ago, was caused by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) disconnecting UCH from the national grid due to an alleged N200 million debt. Since then, the hospital has been relying on generators and alternative power sources, which have proven inadequate, leading to disruptions in medical services and financial losses as patients seek treatment elsewhere.
This protest would make the third in the series of the reactions of the students of the University of Ibadan(UI) to what now seems as perpetual energy crisis at both the main campus of the University and its medical training facilities, the University College Hospital(UCH).
Signed
Moses Oyelade,
AD(I&PR), FIC, Ibadan.
