Prof Akporhonor’s bombshell:
‘Jonathan is an ASUU member’
FROM EMMANUEL OGOIGBE, WARRI
Tuesday, November 01, 2011

• Akporhonor
PHOTO: THE SUN PUBLISHING

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Forget everything you’ve been told about the ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) strike before now. Forget the accusation about ASUU members and its executives trying to bring down the government of President Goodluck Jonathan, trying to bring about a revolution, bloodless or bloody. Fact is, President Jonathan, was once, and still is, an ASUU member.

Thus said Temi Akporhonor, a professor of Chemistry, Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, and, until recently, the Rector, Delta State Polytechnic, Oghara, Delta State. In fact, he completed his four year tenure in August before proceeding on his sabbatical. But the professor of Chemistry who spoke with Daily Sun in an exclusive interview at his Agbarho residence has accused the President of playing a double game: of being an active member of ASUU and yet turning round to maltreat ASUU by reneging on the agreements that he reached with the union.

Akporhonor is not a happy man. He is not happy with governments, both at the Federal and State levels, for failing to fulfill their own side of the agreements they reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), in the past.

“Our government is paying lip service to education,” Akporhonor lamented in the interview with Daily Sun, before adding: “I want the strike to continue until government implement all the agreement reached.” “Government should endeavour to implement all the agreements reached before ASUU goes on full strike,” he warned. Excerpt of the interview in which he talked not only about ASUU but also about his stewardship as a Rector of Delta State Polytechnic, among other matters of common interest:

Tenure at Delta State Polythenic, Oghara
Administratively and academically I met structures on ground, and I built on it. When I came in about few courses were not accredited but by the time I left, all the courses had been accredited. Beside, there was only one programme for Higher National Diploma (HND) but by the time I left all the departments had HND programme approved for them.

Experience
I feel that it’s quite an experience; it’s something that we live to remember. Like I always tell people, I wasn’t born to be a Rector and I joined the profession in the university as a lecturer, and the highest position in the university is professor and any other thing that comes after it is just an addendum.

Assessment of education in the country
It is a pity that education standard is falling at the primary level, secondary level and even at the tertiary levels; in fact, we have a serious problem in the country. Above all, without education, I don’t think that we can have a good nation and if attention is not focused on education we will run into further problem. Various crises we are having in the society are all part of the decadence in education sector.

Improving our education sector
I think government has to take education very seriously. First and foremost, we have a UNESCO-approved standard which makes it mandatory for major part of our budget should go to education generally, not just tertiary education. Regrettably, we are going very far below that recommendation.

Revolution
In the first instance, if you want to build education it is not even at the tertiary level you start, let there be a revolution in that sector. It should start from the primary school and graduate to secondary school level and move ahead to the university level.

Training/re-training/renumeration of teachers
There is still the need for training and re-training of teachers. It is not enough to say those who will be teaching must be NCE graduate. And if you are not properly remunerated, then the purpose is defeated.
Uncompleted projects
I want to say boldly that uncompleted projects form one of the basic factors militating against our educational system. In this wise, I want to appeal to the Commissioner for Education (Delta State) to ensure that abandoned projects are completed. It is good the commissioner should try to go to both primary and secondary schools to monitor these projects because he is the eyes of the governor.

The looming ASUU strike
Well, for your information, we have finished with the warning strike. It is a pity that government did not fulfill its own part of the agreement. Imagine having finalized issues, government will not fulfill its own part of the bargain until ASUU will go on strike again. Unfortunately, government is insensitive to the plight of the common man, especially students whose parents are not rich. Every top government official wants his children to school abroad, but if a policy is put in place to compel every Nigerian to train their children in Nigeria, it will be better.

A vote of continuation of ASUU strike
Unfortunately, our government is paying lip service to education and in this wise I want the strike to continue until government implements all the agreement reached. It is true that our children are suffering, luckily it was a warning strike but government should endeavour to implement all the agreements reached before ASUU goes on full strike.
Strike and sabotage

Well, it is not aimed at discrediting the present government but rather, President Jonathan inherited the strike. It is not a calculated attempt to make the country ungovernable for Mr. President, it is just a coincidence. Why the strike is worrisome is because President Jonathan was once an ASUU man; hence it is worrisome and that is one of the problems we are facing in this country. I want to appeal to President Jonathan to think about it, that he was once a member of ASUU while he was at the University of Port-Harcourt. I think he still is. He should be serious and call the leadership of ASUU, and appeal to them quietly; it is not all the time he should go to the Press. He should take it upon himself and do something about it knowing that he is an ASUU member. But the issue of people saying the strike is to make the country ungovernable for Jonathan should not arise.

A please for a conducive learning environment
We should learn to appreciate our own, the era of importing foreign expert is gone. We have capable Nigerians that can handle education properly. Nigerians who go outside the country do excel. We travel outside the country to study and in most cases we excel more than them but the only problem is that the environment they study is very conducive. If I were in government I would suggest pilot project as a prelude in implementing our resourcefulness. On this wise, I am pleading with government to take education seriously.

How on earth can a government sign an agreement clearly written in english and refuse to abide by it? I just can not understand

Same way you can't understand a govt that disobeys court orders.

mbulela:

Same way you can't understand a govt that disobeys court orders.

Probably, they these documents should henceforth be written in our local dialects.