Unilorin VC seeks settlement of dispute: ACADEMIC Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called for the sack of Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike over his alleged involvement in the political crisis in Rivers State, which the union said has prevented him from finding solutions to the lingering crisis in the universities. The Coordinator of ASUU, Ilorin Zone, Dr. Adeleke Ayan, regretted that instead of Wike to be concerned about the nationwide strike and various crises bedeviling Nigerian universities, he is bogged down with local Rivers politics. At a press conference Wednesday in Ado Ekiti, Ayan, who is the Chairman of ASUU in Ekiti State University (EKSU), said it was lamentable that the minister had allegedly abandoned crucial national issues like ASUU strike and started indulging in local politics. He called for immediate release of the N100 billion the government promised to turn around the country’s Ivory Towers around, saying “a lot of restoration will take place if the money is released in our universities”. Describing Wike as a ‘roving minister’, Ayan declared that, “The involvement of Minister of State for Education in Rivers State crisis is an example of reckless abandonment of serious national issue for pecuniary pursuit. The Ilorin Zone grossly condemns this roving minister and calls for his immediate removal”. ASUU threatened that it would no longer enter into any ‘unproductive’ agreement or Memorandum of Understanding with Federal Government, having reneged on the previous ones. “The Previous MoU of March 2012 was so clear that if the Minister of Education and National Universities Commission (NUC) Executive Secretary have not sabotaged it through bureaucracy, there won’t have been any need for another strike”, ASUU said. Ayan disclosed that government’s insincerity, particularly the Governor Gabriel Suswam-led Implementation Committee, had stalled quick resolution of the matter. The ASUU leader advocated 26 per cent budgetary allocation to the education sector by government at all levels in consonance with the directive of UNESCO. In Niger State, prospective students intending to write the 2013 post- UTME examinations in the Federal University of Technology, Minna slated for Saturday may have their hope dashed because of the on-going strike by the ASUU. Speaking to newsmen at the main campus of the university in Minna yesterday, the Chairman of ASUU FUT Minna chapter, Dr. Abdulfatai Jimoh said the post-UTME exercise is an academic exercise and it would be against the policy of the Union if its members participate in such activity when they have been warned to suspend all academic actions. According to him, “Post-UTME is an academic exercise and it is done by the academic staff, so ASUU members in FUT Minna will not participate in the exercise and as such we will not respect such admission. The students will not be recognised by the lecturers in the institution.” Jimoh said that the result and the examination process will be faulted if it finally holds on Saturday, “if all academic staff are not on ground, who will oversee the conduct, marking and grading of the examination? Is it not the academic staff? So how will it be done without us, that is what we are waiting to see.” Also, the lecturers of the institution have vowed not to recognise such students if the institution decided to go ahead with the UMTE. ASUU, however, faulted the claim made by Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State who claimed that the strike will be over on Thursday (today), stating that the strike will only be called off when government implements all ASUU’s agreements. Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of University of Ilorin, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali has urged members of the ASUU to return to the negotiation table with government to amicably resolve the lingering disputes. Ambali while responding to questions during an (iftar) (shortly before a Muslim fasting is terminated) interactive session with journalists urged the two parties to reach compromise and find quick resolution to the crisis. According to him, “where two parties are fighting, nobody will be 100 per cent right. I just want to urge the two parties to understand each other and come to an agreement so that students can continue their study in peace”.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 07:17:55 +0000
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