The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, has rejected an order issued by the institution’s management to resume academic activities.
Dr Kayode Arogundade, the union’s Chairperson, stated on Friday that the university’s Registrar, Ife Oluwole, was free to reopen the university, which he had closed due to the industrial action.
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 programmes and as well as directing the striking workers to resume, said EKSU-ASUU was not part of the school’s resumption order.
He said, “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.
“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”.
Meanwhile, the university’s management had in a statement by the Head, Directorate of Information, Bode Olofinmuagun, on Friday titled, “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”.
Osodeke had in an interview on Arise TV on Thursday described some public universities that were not part of the strike as quacks.
Olofinmuagun, who said nearly all EKSU academic programmes were accredited by the National Universities Commission and relevant professional regulatory bodies, said the university “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, categorising 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 honour by retracting the provocative remark and tender an unreserved apology without further delay,” the university added.
Similarly, while condemning ASUU’s remark, the Vice Chancellor of Osun State University, Prof Clement Adebooye, called on the president of the union to guard his utterances.
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 PhD 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.