In this interview by ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, Dr Bakare and the National President of ASUU Prof Abiodun Ogunyemi defended their stance on the various positions taken on the union matter.
Why do you think the crisis in ASUU-LASU has festered this long?
It is because some people who were former member of the ASUU-LASU executive were part of the crisis. These set of people teamed up with the management to terrorise the leadership of the branch.
“I have visited the branch in my personal capacity, and interacted with those people who have now decided to create a new executive.
My findings showed that these individuals who moved for a parallel executive have been on it over the last two years.
They are desperate to install a branch that will operate at the whims and caprices of the management. Those who escalated the crisis are the advisers to management to decimate the union and install a stooge executive.
But what do you think is the undercurrent?
The bottomline is insincerity on the part of both the management and the ringleaders. I do not wish to go into the level of mediation that we have embarked upon.
We have sent not less than 10 delegations be it at the zones or centre to the university to resolve this crisis, to no avail.
But why would they insist on ensuring the matter gets more complicated since everyone falls back to the union when the chips are down?
It is because some of these people engaged in some anti-union activities in the past and have been suspended. I have met some of them and told them what they needed to do for those sanctions to be lifted.
Everything is there in the Constitution. They know, but they have been playing the ostrich. See, I cannot tell a lie against my members.
These people deliberately eliminated the leadership of the branch because of their selfish interest.
Some also said ASUU is more interested in the union’s dues than the concerns of members
What due? Is it the dues that they deliberately stopped since last year? And unfortunately, some of them forget that once you stop remitting your due, you automatically cease to be members of the union. So whatever group they have floated, they can no longer call themselves ASUU.
Some have also argued that the ASUU Constitution needs a review as it did not foresee what happened in LASU.
It is all tissue of lies.
When the chips are down as is the LASU case, it is ASUU-National Executive Council (NEC) that automatically has the prerogative.
Alternatively, the National President can also call a meeting either through the zone or his representatives. But it’s usually the NEC.
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So, what happens to the newly inaugurated executive?
We have written to the management to inform them that it is the Oyewunmi faction that the union still recognises.
Fact is, ASUU is one union. No chapter has a life of its own. So, anything they do that falls short of the procedure as laid down by the Constitution amounts to illegality.
Whether they are claiming to have resorted to self-help or not is unacceptable to the union. So, simply put, what they have done is not known to the national. It is the national that gives the branch a chapter and not the other way round.
What inspired the new executive?
First and foremost, let me state clearly that this newly-inaugurated executive never imposed themselves on the congress.
Rather, it was the congress in its own wisdom that overwhelmingly nominated some of its members to ensure they put machinery in place to conduct a free and fair election for interested members.
Based on the trust, the congress conferred on the appropriate officers, elections were conducted, new members were elected and congress endorsed it.
Now the situation at hand is not to trade blames but promote peace and stability, resolve conflict and foste unity among divided ASUU members.
It is also sacrosanct to ensure that collectively, achievements recorded by workers and the incumbent administration are sustained.
Could you identify this vacuum?
First, for us to be ASUU-LASU members, we must, first, have been employees of LASU, according to Article 3 Sub-Section III of the Constitution; and that automatically empowers the congress that met to consider it constitutionally right to summon a congress so that ASUU-LASU which had been moribund could be revived.
So, what we are seeing is the rebirth of ASUU-LASU that will work with agreed members to promote institutional progress.
Many of your members accused ASUU of not handling the internal crisis well.
In the past, there were crises that remained unabated. Zonal coordinators (of ASUU) came but could not find solutions. Of late, the representatives from the national body also stormed our congress to resolve the impasse.
The vacuum created by the sacked ASUU-LASU executives were not filled for a very long time. Therefore, we expected a bye-election to have been conducted by them but which they did not.
How do you get to right the wrong of the past so that ASUU-LASU will not die? Who represents or speaks for ASUU-LASU when the chips are down?
Issues happen but we need to first put our house in order. We do not undermine the power of ASUU national; however, it is very important that it is the power of the branches that empowers the national.
We needed proper and effective leadership because hitherto there have been certain demands by our members which have remained unresolved.
And because many of these issues are yet to be fully addressed, the morale is low. Many members have stopped attending congress.
There is also the impression that you are being sponsored by some individuals loyal to the LASU leadership to silence dissenting voices
“I disagree. That question should be left for congress to answer. However, I will plead that ASUU president should be patient with us and see whether we are being sponsored by management or not.
As I said, one of the things ASUU failed to do during their visit was proper communication. They did not speak with the right people, therefore, they were unable to capture the nitty-gritty of the challenges confronting us.
Truth is, we cannot unilaterally sack a VC that has done a lot to the development of LASU. In all fairness, this present management has done a lot in terms of staff welfare, promotions, consistent salaries, infrastructures, industrial harmony, and above all, putting LASU on the global map as we are now one of the World Bank-recognised Centres of Excellence.
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