Wednesday 4 December 2013

Unilag, LASU lecturers say they will not resume work, unless….

Lagos – Lagos State University (LASU) branch of ASUU, on
Tuesday said its members would not resume duty unless so
directed by its national chapter.

The Chairman of the branch, Dr Idris Adekunle, announced
this at a news conference in Lagos on Tuesday.

Adekunle said the LASU branch of ASUU had resolved to
continue with the indefinite strike.

He said that members had also resolved not to sign any
register if the university's management decided to open any.
"The Congress unanimously resolves that if for any reason the
management opens any register, no member of ASUU shall
sign such.

"ASUU, particularly LASU chapter, is as solid as ever and
will not be moved by any threat.

"We are not having serious problems with the management
because we have been educating them on the developments'',
he said.

Adekunle said that the lecturers had also resolved not to
attend the academic meeting called by the Governing Council
of LASU.

"ASUU LASU resolves that no member shall attend the
meeting called by the LASU Governing Council because we
are still on strike'', he said.

On the reopening of some universities, the chairman said it
was "mere propaganda" as they were not closed in the first
instance.

"University gates have never been closed since the strike
started because research work and community service have
been going on.

"We have been working, but only suspended the teaching
aspect, we still do our research and community service,'' he
said.

The ASUU chairman said although the lecturers had not been
paid for months, they were joyfully going on with the strike
because it was a community service in the interest of the
nation.

Adekunle said that the threat by the government to sack
lecturers "was an empty one, as the philosophy of ASUU is

"Sack one, sack all and an injury to one is an injury to all."

According to him, although the directive by the Federal

Government is to federal universities, state universities are in
support of their members in the federal institutions and are not
backing out.

"Our rank and file do not discriminate between state and
federal universities because we are one'', he said.

He urged the State Government to reduce school fees and
make the institution affordable for the common man.

Meanwhile, two students who were seen on the campus said
they were there to do other things and there was no circular on
when the school would resume.

The Acting Director, Information, Press and Public Relations
Unit of LASU, Dr Sola Fosudo, had said on Monday that the
management would have to meet to decide on the issue.

"The decision of the management would be relayed to the
public as soon as the meeting is held'', he had said.

At the University of Lagos, there was no sign of lecturers
ready to resume work.

Apart from a few fresh students who were carrying out their
registration, there was no trace of academic activities.

Most of the lecturers' offices and the lecture theatres were
locked .

Business activities on campus remained low as there were no
customers to patronise the various operators.

There were no registers for the lecturers to sign on the
campus.

Dr Olubunmi Ajibade, Senior Lecturer, Mass Communication
Department, said that there would be no academic activities
come Dec. 4, in the institution.

He said that the lecturers could not be forced into carrying out
services against their wishes, going by the federal
government's directive.

"As far as lecturers in Unilag are concerned, the strike
continues until government does the needful'', he said.

Dr Samuel Ugo, of the Political Science Department of the
institution, said lecturers would work with the directive issued
by the National Executive Committee of ASUU.

Ugo noted that the universities had been open all through the
strike but that the lecturers had withdrawn their services.

He said that it was a misconception for people to say that the
universities were closed.

"Students have been directed by NEC to also steer away from
classes'', Ugo said.

The Federal Government had directed Vice Chancellors to
reopen federal universities and that those who did no resume
by Dec. 4, automatically ceased to be employees of the
institutions.

The deadline had now been shifted to Dec. 9.

ASUU had, however, vowed to continue with its five month
old strike.

Via: NAN

No comments: