Some medical students of the University of Ibadan protested frequent power outages in their ivory tower as the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, visited the University College Hospital (UCH) to find a lasting solution to the institution’s perennial power outages.
Our correspondent gathered that the students staged their protest against what was happening at the hospital near the venue of the meeting.
The protesting students appealed to the government to intervene in the situation.
The students displayed placards with different inscriptions such as, “+100 Days of Darkness: Save UCH; Save ABH Hall; Save Falade Hall; Give Us Light; This Is Not How We Want To Live; Medical School Is Hard Enough- Give Us Light; All We Are Saying, Give Us Light among others.”
One of the students who gave his name as Samuel said, “No light, no water. We shall continue this protest until our demands are met.”
It was learnt that Adelabu is meeting with the management of the tertiary health institution to find ways to resolve the hospital’s power crisis.
It would be recalled that UCH had witnessed constant power outages in the last year; the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, in March and early October 2024, disconnected the power supply at the hospital due to accumulated debts.
It was gathered that the IBEDC disconnected the power supply at UCH for the third time in a year on 26 October 2024. As a result, medical students at the University of Ibadan staged a peaceful protest against the development.
Our correspondent gathered that Adelabu, key ministry staff, and other stakeholders met with the hospital’s management to find a lasting solution to the crisis.