Fashola begs 91-yr-old woman to end siege on his office, agrees to meet on Friday

yetunde oyeleke

May 20, 2015 1:51 PM

Governor Babatunde Fashola has been urged to return Metropolitan College, one of the schools seized by the Lagos government in 1976, to the original owners, Akaix West Africa Limited, before his tenure ends.

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state has appealed to Madame Roseline Ololo, a 91-year-old woman who besieged his office early Tuesday over the government’s refusal to return her school.

On Tuesday, following the expiry of a 7-day ultimatum issued through her lawyer, Malcolm Omirhobo, the nonagenarian vowed to remain in the governor's office until her school is returned.

She arrived with her family and well-wishers with cooking materials and mattress, obviously bent on occupying the office.

But Omirhobo later told journalists that they received a call from the governor to shelve the protest, agreeing to meet over the matter.

“We were already on our way here when we received a call from the governor, who asked us to shelve the planned protest and come for a meeting on Friday at the Ministry of Education,” Omirhobo explained.

READ: 91-yr-old woman invades Fashola's office, wants late husband's school returned

The nonagenarian had founded the Metropolitan College, now Isolo Secondary School, with her late husband, Chief Michael Ololo, in 1995.

But the school was seized by the military government alongside 37 other private schools after the 1976 Education (Private Secondary Institutions Special Provisions) Law.

With the repeal of the law in 2011, by the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, all other private schools were returned.

But Ololo's school was retained and she has been fighting since then to regain possession.

Omirhobo had in a letter urged Fashola to return the school before his tenure ends, alleging that bureaucracy in the Education Ministry may pose a problem after his handover on May 29.

READ: Return our school before you leave office, proprietor begs Fashola

If the Friday meeting holds, Fashola will have exactly seven (7) days to resolve the matter before his tenure ends.

yetunde oyeleke