An order from the institution’s administration to resume academic operations has been refused by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at Ekiti State University in Ado Ekiti.
The union’s chairperson, Dr. Kayode Arogundade who announced this yesterday asserted that the institution’s registrar, Ife Oluwole, was allowed to resume the university, which he shuttered following strike action by the union In Nigeria.
Arogundade, who spoke in reaction to a statement on Wednesday by the registrar directing fresh students for the 2021/2022 session to resume on Monday for screening, registration and orientation programs and as well as directing the striking workers to resume, said EKSU-ASUU was not part of the school’s resumption order.
He stated, ‘As far as we are concerned, we are still on strike. We have just finished our congress. We are not comfortable with the position of the Federal Government. We have communicated our resolutions at the congress to our national body.’
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‘We did not send students home. It was the registrar that sent the students home. The person who sent the students home can ask them to come back. So he has asked the students he sent home to resume, I do not think anybody overheard me saying my members should resume.’
While this was going on, the university’s administration released a statement on Friday from the head of the information directorate, Bode Olofinmuagun, captioned, ‘’EKSU not a quack university: ASUU president’s statement, reckless,’’ lambasted the ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, for referring to some state universities as quacks, saying the denigrating remark was “unfortunate, reckless and unwarranted”.
On Thursday while speaking on Arise TV, Osodeke characterize certain public universities that weren’t involved In the strikee as quacks
According to Olofinmuagun, almost all of EKSU’s academic programs are endorsed by the National Universities Commission and other essential professional regulating authorities. ‘is currently the 14th best university in Nigeria out of about 200 universities and the second best state university according to the recent Webometric ranking of universities’.
‘Therefore, categorizing EKSU as among the quack and irrelevant universities is a testimony to the fact that the ASUU president is probably uninformed and/or bereft of ideas. This arrant nonsense coming from Osodeke is totally unacceptable and condemnable.’
‘The management calls on Professor Osodeke to toe the path of honor by retracting the provocative remark and tender an unreserved apology without further delay,’ the university further said.
In a similar vein, while criticizing the statement made by ASUU, Prof. Clement Adebooye, Vice Chancellor of Osun State University, urged the union’s president to watch his words.
Adeboye said, ‘We take exception to the statement made by Osodeke referring to UNIOSUN as a quack school. This university has a profile of having done what other universities have not done in 14 years of its existence. This university has 481 full-time academic staff, out of them, 387 are Ph.D. holders. Osodeke should not be careless with comments; he is just a Nigerian. He should not talk about what he doesn’t know. A true professor speaks with facts, which he has not done. He should get educated.’
Following the strike actions, some components of the Union have indicated resistance to the decision the group had made some of which openly reinstated their commitment to the industrial action.