FOUR GROUP LEADERS from the Nigerian student body attended a Press conference at the Clement Payne Centre this morning to tell the public why they have been protesting their living arrangements since arriving in Barbados a week ago to undertake studies at the Barbados Community College.
Christopher Okolu, Judith Luckh, Igozi Ogunsuji and Samson Ukwedojor said the 90 students felt betrayed after being informed that they were going to be staying at Infinity on the Beach Hotel only to be taken to Casa Grande Hotel.
“Our management team visited Barbados and stayed at Infinity on December 14, 15 and 16 to assess the place. They brought us pictures of Infinity and showed us that this was where we were going to be staying. We want to know what changed between the 16 and December 31 when we arrived,” Luckh asked.
She said their liaison officer Sharon White explained that Infinity was full and that they would have to stay at Casa Grande for one month but they later discovered that organiser of the programme, Donna St Hill had actually paid for them to stay at the St Philip hotel for nine months – the full duration of their time here.
The students said not only were they dismayed to learn about this but they also became agitated over how they were spoken to by St Hill and also that she was never in a position to answer their questions.
“It is her way or no way but that can’t stand with us – she has to give us the information,” Ogunsuji stressed.
The students complained that the hotel was too far from the BCC, that some rooms had no television sets and the air conditioning was not working and that for four days they had no water with which to bathe.
“We did not put this issue in the Press to make anyone look bad. We have been trying our best to settle this between ourselves but it wouldn’t work so we decided to let our brothers living here know what we are going through. We have not come here to make noise – we have come to learn from you and you also to learn from us,” one said. (MB)
