The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko branch, has threatened a showdown with the management of the institution, should it make good its plans to recall students and lecturers to campus.

The union advised parents to keep their children at home, warning that members were ready to resist the management’s plans to reopen the university despite the ongoing strike.

The Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Olufemi Mimiko, had on Wednesday said he would reopen the institution if ASUU failed to call off its over two months strike as quickly as possible.

Mimiko had said the protracted strike had affected the activities of the university, which, he said, had enjoyed a stable academic calendar in the last four years.

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.

“Ours is a state university and the case is different. We don’t have any subsisting agreement with the ASUU. It is the Federal Government that has issues with the ASUU.”

But the Chairman of ASUU, AAUA, Dr. Busayo Mekusi, described the VC’s plan as “an attempt to plunge the institution into an unending crisis.”

He told journalists in Akure on Thursday that the strike called by the national union would continue and AAUA branch was committed to what he called “the revamping of public universities in the country.”

He said, “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 refuted the claims that the university had no subsisting agreement with the Federal Government, arguing that the ongoing struggle had given AAUA access to N1.05bn so far from the Federal Government allocation.

He said, “We are committed to the strike called by the union to push for the implementation of the 2009 agreement; state universities were duly represented during the processes of negotiation that culminated in the signing of the agreement and this account for why AAUA has been benefitting from the proceeds of ASUU struggle as found in the intervention of TETFUND.

“By this purported resumption of academic activities, the VC seems to be ready to plunge the institution into crisis as he wants to apply the University of Ilorin model, which promotes dehumanisation and slavery.”

Meanwhile, ASUU has described the negotiations, the union had been having with the Federal Government as a “lip service negotiations.”

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.
www.punchng.com/news/ASUU-tackles-vc-over-plan-to-recall-students/