National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Professor Emmanuel, has declared that any move by the Federal Government or its agent, including Labour Minister Chris Ngige to ban the union will fail.
Osodeke said 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 areas of the nation.
The ASUU President also warned Vice Chancellors of public universities to shun dressing themselves in apparels 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 programme organised by the ASUU chapter of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye in Ogun State to honour 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.
Osodeke, who described Ngige as a jester over his efforts at proscribing ASUU, also berated the Federal Government for always being envious of ASUU’s achievements at setting qualitative and enduring standards in the areas of infrastructural provisions and services when compared to the substandard it preferred dishing out despite the sufficient fund at its disposal to provide such.
“I can see why Ngige is interested in banning ASUU because once ASUU is proscribed, all the union’s assets automatically becomes federal government’s property, even when the government is bereft of ideas to put in place, qualitative assets in the midst of sufficient funds at its disposal as done in the University of Ibadan, UniPort, University of Maiduguri among other places”.
