What do we gain by supporting ASUU strike? By Solanke Lagerback, UNAAB I was dissapointed with a press statement by ASUU ,LAUTECH chapter hailing the Governors of Osun and Oyo for appointing Governing Council members for LAUTECH and calling on them to appoint other principal officers of theschool. It is quite unfortunate that ASUU, LAUTECH chapter and NATIONAL has not deemed it fit to condemn the unholy appointment of Prof. Wale Omole as LAUTECH Chairman, Governing Council and Pro-Chancellor. It will be recalled that the students of ObafemiAwolowo University and her alumni in time past has tiredlessly alledged Prof. Wale Omole as the masterminder of the brutal killing of OAU union leaders and students in the 1999 cult attack that left the likes of George Iwilade a.k.a Afrika, Eviano Ekelemu and others dead. Students are protesting this appointment (both on the media and on the streets) and yet ASUU has maintained a criminal silence onthe issue. Students support ASUU to get improved allowances from the Government, yet it is this same ASUU members that assault and harass students; it is this same ASUU members that sits on SDC committees that recommend expulsion and suspension of student activists. It is the same ASUU members that fail to teachus in class and rather give us materials to read up. It is the same ASUU members that failstudents that do not do their biddings. When they need to get increased pay and they go on strike, should we then continue to supportthem? In what way does ASUU benefits students? What do Student Unions gain from ASUU? Solidarity with a union should be a symbiotic relationship (I support you, you support me later). ASUU needs to be told the truth that they are the major oppressors of students and so theyneed to change their behaviour and actions toward students. We want to see an ASUU whose members will display a high sense of comradeship by supporting students in the face of oppression. If and when ASUU get what they need from the Federal Government, they SHOULD NOT deny students of what we need from management of our universities. They need tobe told this bitter truth
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 12:13:22 +0000