ASUU Vows To Resist Attempts To Recall Students To Campus

Vice Chancellor, Adekunle Ajasin University,
Akungba, Prof. Femi Mimiko

The Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU), Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-
Akoko (AAUA) advised parents to keep their
children at home, warning that members were
ready to resist the management’s plans to
recall students to campus despite the ongoing strike. This advise followed a statement by the Vice-
Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Olufemi
Mimiko, who said he would reopen the
institution if ASUU failed to call off its strike. He said, “We have unbroken four-year
academic calendar before the strike started.
The strike has affected our programmes. It is
not in the interest of our students. We hope
ASUU will call off the strike soon, if not, we are
considering taking a measure to bring our students back to the campus,” he said. The Chairman of ASUU AAUA, Dr. Busayo
Mekusi, however, called the VC’s plan “an
attempt to plunge the institution into an
unending crisis.” Mekusi told journalists in Akure on Thursday
that the strike would continue and AAUA branch
was committed to what he called “the
revamping of public universities in the
country.” “We advise parents to restrain their wards from
heeding the call as ASUU AAUA is still on strike,
anybody trying to break the ongoing strike
meant to better the lots of our students of
tomorrow is an enemy of our future. All the
members of the union should disregard this,” he stated. Mekusi debunked the claims that the university
had no subsisting agreement with the FG,
saying that the ongoing struggle had given
AAUA access to N1.05bn from the FG
allocation. He recalled that the state universities were duly
represented during the negotiation and signing
of 2009 agreement with the FG, and this
account for why AAUA has been benefitting
from the proceeds of ASUU struggle. Meanwhile, the Ibadan acting zonal Coordinator
of ASUU, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka, in a statement on
Thursday said, “After the meeting of Tuesday, September 19
with the Vice-President Namadi Sambo, it is
clear that the Federal Government is merely
paying lip-service to education in Nigeria and
deceiving the Nigerian public on their
commitment to its transformation agenda.” He warned students and parents not to be
deceived with the agenda of the government,
saying the strike was in the interest of Nigeria’s
educational system.