The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, has warned that any move by the Federal Government or its agent, including Labour Minister Chris Ngige to ban the union will fail.
According to Osodeke, ASUU’s philosophy is premised on aligning with a worthy cause for the progress of the country’s educational sector and its positive multiplier effects on every other area of the nation.
He said, “I can see why Ngige is interested in banning ASUU because once ASUU is proscribed, all the union’s assets automatically become Federal Government’s property, even when the government is bereft of ideas to put in place, qualitative assets amid sufficient funds at its disposal as done in the University of Ibadan, UniPort, the University of Maiduguri among other places.
“You will never succeed in banning ASUU because ours is a union that assesses the system and aligns with the worthy course without being biased for the progress of the Nigerian educational society.”
The ASUU President also warned Vice Chancellors of public universities to shun dressing in the substandard apparel of Chief Executive Officers (C.E.Os) of universities when in reality; they are just the first among their equals in the academic community.
Osodeke spoke while delivering his goodwill message at the special commemorative program organized by the ASUU Chapter of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, Ogun State.
The program was to honor the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Professor Ganiyu Olatunde, whose tenure ended two weeks ago and was succeeded by a Cancer Pathologist, Prof. Deji Agboola.
