Tuesday 29 October 2013

ASUU questions Mark’s ‘sound mind’, asks him to apologize to Onosode for reckless comments



The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASU
University of Ibadan chapter, has condemned
comments credited to Senate President, David
Mark on the union’s 2009 agreement with the
Federal Government. Mark had questioned the competence of the team
that negotiated the pact, saying “ASUU found that
those who were sent there (government
negotiating team led by Onosode) simply didn’t
know their right from their left,” hence cajoling
them into signing an utopian pact. He stated this last Wednesday during a debate on
the floor of the Senate regarding the ongoing
action by university lecturers. But the union said the comments ridiculed the
leader of the Federal Government’s team, Deacon
Gamaliel Onosode and therefore called on Mark to
apologize. It also called to question the memory of the
Senate President, saying Mark’s view smirked of
disbelief about his knowledge of national issues
as he was already the head of the Senate when
the agreement was signed. At the end of a congress held at the University of
Ibadan during the weekend, Chairman of ASUU
chapter, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, said the elder
statesman was a man of honour, who deserved
commendations, not attack. He said, “Onosode is a man of proven integrity,
and impeccable character. He deserves better than
the colour painted of him by the Senate President.
The Congress respects the personality of Onosode,
an alumnus of the University College Ibadan, who
has served as the Chairman of governing councils of UI and University of Lagos and a successful
businessman who has served the country in
various intervention capacities. “The congress condemns these disparaging
comments and demands that the Senate
President apologises to this elder statesman. Can
we actually trust these characters to midwife any
intervention with a bias and myopic construction
myth makes right? he asked. “Where else in the world are senators earning
bogus allowances as we have in the National
Assembly? We challenge the Revenue Allocation,
Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission to publish
salaries and allowance of the senate president for
Nigerians to see how patriotic he is to the true state of the economy.” Ajiboye advised Senate to be sensitive to national
issues, saying President Goodluck Jonathan, who
was then the Vice President when the agreement
with ASUU was signed, instructed the government
team to sign the agreement.

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