In lieu of the massive backlash they have been receiving over their recent verbal onslaught on some of their members, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has come out to fully debunk and deny all the reports which have been making the rounds that it had named universities owned by State governments as being quack.
Africa Today News, New York had also reported that numerous media platforms were on Friday flooded with some of the reactions to the purported assertion by the ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke that all the state universities in the Country are quack and should not be taken seriously.
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Recall that Professor Osodeke had on Thursday had appeared on Arise TV where he addressed some issues regarding the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by ASUU over six months ago. Speaking about some State universities that recently pulled out of the struggle, the ASUU president said, “talk about important universities not those quacks. They’re not part of our strike”.
The development had also triggered some massive backlash from some State universities and concerned Nigerians who lambasted the ASUU president for allegedly naming State universities ‘quack’.
Recall that the Vice-Chancellor, Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Professor Odunayo Clement Adebooye while reacting to the report yesterday, described ASUU president as a careless talker by saying universities that are not on strike are ‘quacks’.
Professor Adebooye said the State university has 481 full-time academic staff and among them, 387 are full-time Ph.D. holders, “this is not a quack.”
However, the ASUU president debunked the report saying he was misquoted by the media.
He said, “There is nothing like that. It is a lie. I have told myself that I will not talk to the press again because they always misrepresent things.
“I have found out that Nigerian press is specialized in manipulating interviews, reporting what someone did not say just to create confusion in the system. They won’t report things the way it is”.
According to Osodeke, he was referring to only three universities owned by State governments which are currently not on strike.
While also describing the report as being fake, Professor Osodeke had lamented unprofessionalism in reportage, alleging that the media aimed at creating confusion in the system.