The management of the Federal University of Oye (FUOYE), Ekiti State, has declared a lecture-free day over the death of a first-year student of the Department of Quantity Survey.
The student identified as Taiwo Gbolahan was reportedly crushed to death by a heavy truck along the Ikole-Oye highway in the state on Friday morning.
The university’s Dean of Student Affairs, Prof Dosu Malomo, while confirming the incident noted that Gbolahan died in the theatre where he was being attended to by the doctors on the ground.
The dean, however, declared a lecture free-day as a last respect for the lost soul.
The declaration was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by Wole Balogun, the Special Adviser on Media Matters to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abayomi Sunday Fasina, titled “Condolence Message And Lecture Free Day”.
The statement read, “The University has received the sad news of the loss of one our students in a ghastly motor accident on Ikole-Oye highway today. This is in spite of the spirited and prompt efforts of the Directorate of University Medical Services to render help and convey the student to the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido, for comprehensive attention.
“Immediately the news got to the University management that the accident occurred, we sent an ambulance and logistics to admit the deceased at Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti.
“His parents were informed and his daddy was at the hospital, the University shouldered the hospital bill and treatment for him began earnestly, it was when he was in the theatre that the unfortunate happened.
“The Vice-Chancellor and the entire University send their condolences for this unfortunate loss.
“Consequently, I wish to declare that Saturday, December 17, is hereby declared a lecture free-day as a mark of respect for the lost soul.
The VC further urged the university community to remain calm and go about the lawful activities.
According to a student, Gbolahan, who is the class governor of the Quantity Survey department was instructed by one of their lecturers to submit the assignments for the class before 9 am, prompting him to mount a bike in a bid to beat the deadline.
“MTH 101 is for all faculties, including Engineering, Environmental Management & Design, and Agriculture. The victim is in Quantity Survey, in Environmental Management. He’s the governor of his department,” the student said.
“The lecturer of MTH 101 insisted that we submit the works as early as 9 am yesterday. The rep had to rush to school as early as 6:21 am to gather the assignments from the class at the Ikare-Ekiti campus.
“It was when he made for the Oye-Ekiti campus that he was killed in the bike accident on the expressway. The school has said nothing about overstretching the students by making them submit things at Oye that early.
“We’ve repeatedly asked that the school management create a shuttle for us to halt the use of bikes on campus.”
On the nature of the crash, a source said the commercial bike Gbolahan hailed attempted to overtake a trailer truck when the victim’s backpack got stuck to the truck’s shaft, pulling the course rep off the two-wheeler in a fatal crash.
“The bike man didn’t wait. He ran away after the accident. We haven’t heard much from the lecturer, who cited a school meeting as the reason for the early submission, or the school since the Gbolahan’s death,” the student added.
FUOYE is situated in Oye-Ekiti in the Oye LGA of the state and Ikole-Ekiti, splitting the varsity into two campuses.
Both campuses are 23.7 km apart, often taking the students and lecturers 37 minutes to commute between them.
