TheCable

Emmanuel Osodeke, president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has labelled some state institutions as “quacks”.

He said the universities that are not participating in its strike are not members of the union.

ASUU has been on strike since February 14 over the federal government’s failure to honour an agreement on issues bordering on funding of universities, as well as salaries and allowances of lecturers.

In an interview with Arise TV on Thursday, Osodeke said all the universities under the union are still on strike.

“Kwara State University is not a member of ASUU, they’ve not joined, you can check. Osun State University was suspended from ASUU for misbehaviour, you can check,” he said.

“In LASU that you mentioned, we are in court with LASU because they sacked all our executives more than five years ago, so they were not part of this struggle.

“Ekiti State University… ASUU doesn’t run a university, the government has a right to say we have reopened, our members have the right to say ‘that’s good for you, we are not teaching, we are on strike’ — as it happened in Gombe State University, as it happened in Yobe State University. You can go and check, as it happened in Kaduna State University. So don’t cite those examples, they are irrelevant.

“Talk about the issue; is Ibadan on strike? Is UNN on strike? Is ABU on strike? Is BUK on strike? Is Maiduguri on strike? Is Lagos on strike? Let us talk about the important ones, not those quacks.”

‘ASUU PRESIDENT IS UNINFORMED’

In response, the Ekiti State University described the remarks of the ASUU president as “unfortunate, reckless and unwarranted”.

The institution demanded that Osodeke retract his statement and tender an apology.

Bode Olofinmuagun, head of the directorate of information and corporate affairs, EKSU, said Osodeke is “uninformed”.

He said EKSU ranked high in the recent ranking of universities and that its programmes are accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

“Even in ASUU, a number of staff of our university had served and still serving in various capacities at zonal and national levels including but not limited to Professor Afolabi Popoola, Dr. Sikiru Eniola, Profs. Eddy Olanipekun, Ayan Adeleke and Olu-Olu Olufayo,” the statement reads. 

“Therefore, categorizing EKSU as among the quack and irrelevant universities is a testimony to the fact that the ASUU President is probably uninformed and/or is bereft of ideas. This arrant nonsense coming from Comrade Osodeke is totally unacceptable and condemnable.

“The Management calls on Professor Osodeke to toe the path of honour by retracting the provocative remark and tender an unreserved apology without further delay.”