have commended the leadership of the institution for
exhibiting exemplary leadership even as the Vice Chancellor,
Professor Femi Mimiko and the Deputy Vice Chancellor,
Professor Rotimi Ajayi, returned to lecture rooms apparently
to make up for a shortfall in the number of academic staff that
have resumed work.
Professor Mimiko, last week, was said to have taken POS 204
(InternatAAUAional Relations), while Professor Ajayi taught
PHY 102 (General Physics). It was reported they would take
the courses throughout the second semester.
Some of the students were said to have considered themselves
privileged to have been taught by the Vice Chancellor and
described the gesture as a symbol of dedication and humility.
In his remark after the lecture, Professor Mimiko was quoted
to have said that "I have always looked forward to meeting
my students again, having been off class for four years running now. I thank my Head of Department for allocating
the course to me to teach this semester and I will be dutifully
present to teach the course throughout the semester by the
grace of God."
He also expressed satisfaction at the effectiveness of the
resumption.
Also, as the Federal Government's deadline for the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) ends today, some
lecturers of University of Lagos, have agreed to resume work
today, five months after the strike.
One of the lecturers, Dr Micheal Ogbeide, in an interview
with the Nigerian Tribune, said some of them have decided to
resume against the union's position. He said, "I, alongside
other lecturers, who are ready to resume work will go back to
work as directed by the government, who owns the school."
Nigerian Tribune, gathered that the lecturers agreed to resume
work, whether ASUU called off the strike or not, while some
of them agreed out of fear of losing their jobs as threatened
by government and/or exhaustion from the longevity of the
five month-old-strike.
A law student at the Lagos State University (LASU), who
pleaded anonymity, stated that as far as he knew, no student
of the school had been prompted to resume school today.
In the light of this, activities on the UNILAG and the Lagos
State University (LASU)campuses, have shown no indications
for resumption, as, in various interviews with the Nigerian
Tribune, students were yet to be alerted by the school authorities nor their lecturers to resume school today.
ASUU reiterated its stand not to call off the strike, on the
basis that the union has not been alerted to the actual payment
of the N200 billion government claimed to have paid into an
account at the CBN for the union.
The refusal of government to sign a letter, that none of its
members would be victimised when the union eventually ends
the strike, as well as a payment of the five-months salary
government owed the lecturers, as stated by the chairman,
ASUU Unilag, Dr Karo Ogbinaka, last week.
Also, in line with the decision of the Governing Council of
the University of Ibadan, which was predicated on the
directives of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors (CPC) of
Federal Universities and the National Universities
Commission, the institution will re-open on January 4, 2014
for full academic and allied activities.
In a University of Ibadan Official Bulletin signed by the
institution's Registrar and Secretary to Council, Mr Olujimi
Olukoya, council explained that the re-opening became
imperative in view of the consideration of all matters relating
to the on-going ASUU strike, at its recent meeting.
According to the release, "consequent upon the directives of
the CPC which directed the Vice-Chancellors to re-open the
universities for academic and allied activities to commence,
Management on Tuesday, December 3, 2013, directed the
Deans and Directors to open resumption register for academic
staff willing to resume work to sign, on or before 04
December, 2013.
Council, the bulletin stressed, "at its extra ordinary meeting
held on Wednesday, December 4, 2013 deliberated on all the
actions taken and ratified by the Committee of Provost, Deans
and Directors (COPD) and ratified them", adding that "Senate
at its Special Meeting held on Wednesday, December 4, 2013
considered the revised academic calendar for the remaining
part of the second semester of 2012/2013 session proposed by
the Committee of Provost, Deans and Directors and approved.
Consequently, students are expected to arrive the university
campus from Saturday, January 4 to Sunday, 05 January,
2014.
Examination will start on Monday, March 31 and end on April 11, while the three weeks for the processing of examination results in Departments and Faculties will start on
April 14, 2014.
The revised calendar further shows that the university's
Senate meeting for the consideration of final year result is
Monday, Monday, 12 May, 2014 while the Senate meeting for
the consideration of non-final year results and end of session
is Monday, June 2, 2014.
Meanwhile, an educationist and executive director of Abuja-
based Doveland International School, Tina Ulumma Chukwu,
has urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the
Federal Government to return to negotiation table so as to
reach an amicable agreement over the lingering strike action
embarked upon by the union.
ASUU strike which commenced in July has lasted for about
five months with the government threatening the university
lecturers with sack if they fail to resume classes today,
Monday.
But speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, at the weekend, Mrs.
Chukwu, said there was need for the government and ASUU
to get back to a point where they can agree on the way
forward since it was the students that had borne the brunt of
the closure of universities for months now.
Speaking during cultural day of Doveland International
School, the educationist noted that the fact that the students
had overstayed at home did not say good of the education
system of the country.
Also, issuing threat and deadline to lecturers to resume work
is not the best way to resolving the lingering ASUU strike, a
member of the Senate Committee on Education, Senator
Abubakar Bagudu, has stated.
Senator Bagudu, who spoke with journalists during the burial
ceremony of former ASUU President, Professor Festus Iyayi,
at the weekend in Ugbegun, Edo State, said the deadline
issued university lecturers to resume work was not the best
way out of the logjam.
"I condemn all provocative statements from whosoever. We
are all Nigerians, ASUU members are Nigerians, who are
committed to the development of the Nigerian state. We have
interacted with them and they are committed to the
development of the education sector along with others who
are also committed to the sector,"
He explained that the Senate Committee on Education has
been at the forefront in the last five months in the negotiation
between ASUU and the Federal Government, adding that the
Senate has always express its belief that every Nigerians is a
stakeholder in the education sector.
He recalled that the Senate in a motion on the floor of the
House, addressed the issue and called for a show of maturity
and statesmanship in dealing with it.
However, a leading human rights group in Nigeria, identified
Centre for Social Justice and Equity of Nigeria (CESJEN) has
urged the leadership and members of the Academic Staff Union of the universities not to succumb to the sack threat and
intimidation of the Federal Government on the ongoing strike
action embarked upon by the union for non-implementation of
the 2009 agreement between the government and striking
lecturers.
The group also condoled with the union over the recent death
of its former President, Professor Festus Iyayi, in a ghastly
motor accident along Lokoja-Abuja Road on his way to Kano
for the extended national Executive Council(NEC) meeting of
the union on how to resolve the current industrial dispute.
In a statement issued and signed by the group's Executive
Director, Kamorudeen Adekunle Adeoti, which was made
available to newsmen in Osogbo, on Sunday, the group argued that the threat statement was a mere political statement from President Goodluck Jonathan-led government that could not hold water, but a ploy to discredit the union before the public.
Adeoti declared that the government cannot force the members back to the classroom until their demands were met,
stressing that threat of mass sack would not bring lasting
solution to the imbroglio.
According to him, "The Federal Government's ultimatum to
the universities' teachers is a ploy by the government to
portray the members of the academic union as irresponsible,
retrogressive and bad element but to us, the deadline threat for
the striking lecturers to resume was laughable and
retrogressive in nature.
"Since the inception of ASUU in the nation's ivory tower, it
has been on democratic struggle for collective bargaining in
the interest of the general public. The threat is the handiwork
of political academic jobbers in the cabinet of President Jonathan that are feeding fat in the ongoing imbroglio between the Academic Union and the Federal Government," Adeoti remarked.
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