Varsity strike: UNIJOS VC expresses fear

Isaac Shobayo, Jos - 17.09.2009

THE Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos, Professor Sonni Tyoden, has expressed the fear that the university might lost one academic session, if the ongoing strike embarked upon by the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) drags beyond October.

Professor Tyoden, while speaking with newsmen in Jos, Plateau State, said unless the strike was called off, it might affect the smooth running of academic programmes in the institution.

“UNIJOS was in the first semester of the 2008/2009 academic session far behind other universities when the strike started as a time when other universities were in their second semester.

“The implication of this is that candidates from the catchments states of the university, especially Plateau, who formed about 80 per cent of students, would lose an academic session,” he said.

He attributed the situation to past strikes and recent crises in the state, adding that this had forced the university to close down on several occasions.

According to him, it was in view of the peculiar circumstance of the university that the governing council recently appealed to the unions to resume work, adding that various unions spurned the appeals on the grounds that the strikes were national.

The vice-chancellor, however, expressed hope for a quick end to the strike by the ASUU, saying the institution might lose another academic session if it persisted.



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