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Tag: Deji Omole

  • ASUU strike: Varsity teachers beg Buhari to show mercy

    The two months old industrial action embarked upon by the  Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday took a new twist as  the university teachers came down on bended kneels, begging President Muhammadu Buhari to show mercy on students by quickly meeting the demands of the Union.

    ASUU has been on strike since November 5, 2018.

    The Union said it has no intention whatsoever to disconnect the education sector, rather  it explained that the reason why they decided to embark on the strike is  to make the ruling class responsible for the future of Nigerian children.

    ASUU in a release signed by Dr Deji Omole, University of Ibadan Chairman, described the call by the Labour Minister, Chris Ngige on the Union to have Mercy on students and call off its strike “a merciless utterance”.

    According to Omole, the statement by the Minister exposed the ruling government as insincere and callous to the wellbeing of Nigerian students.

    Read Also: ASUU: Time to reconsider

    ASUU said since government was a continuum it was regrettable that Chris Ngige who is being paid salaries put in place by previous governments as a Minister will say previous governments caused the problem of the strike by signing 2009 agreements.

    The ASUU boss who noted that the present government has not shown mercy to Education and Health of the nation said the Union has a genuine concern to truncate the plans of the ruling capitalist to destroy the future of Nigerian youths by not funding Education.

    Education he maintained is an instrument of liberation which will stop many youths from joining kidnapping gangs, armed robbery, militancy and terrorism.

    He said “we are patriots otherwise we would not go on strike. We would have been looking and allow everything to be destroyed. But we cannot allow our future (children) to be taught in zoo-like conditions.

    “This kind of education system cannot give us a leader who will be kind to others if we are not kind to them by giving them the best environment to learn from. Nigerians should join us to beg President Buhari to meet our demands on time “.

  • ASUU alleges FG plans to force N350,000 tuition fee on varsity students

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Tuesday revealed that the Federal Government is already concluding arrangements to force students in public universities in the country to pay atleast N350, 000 tuition fees per session

    The Ibadan Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Dr. Ade Adejumo, raised the alarm when he addressed journalists at the Correspondents’ Chapel of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State council, Ibadan.

    Adejumo was accompanied by the union’s chairmen from University of Ibadan, Dr. Deji Omole; Osun State University, Dr. Femi Abanikanda; and Investment Secretary of ASUU in UI, Prof Ayo Akinwole.

    He noted that, the vehement objection of the union to the proposed tuition fees, actually led to the collapse of 2017/2018 Renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement, adding “the union is again constrained to draw the attention of Nigerian public to an impending labour crisis in the Nigerian universities as a result of the insensitivity and non-challance of the Nigerian government to issues critical to the survival of the educational system in Nigeria.”

    Giving a background to the crisis, Adejumo said, when the 2009 agreement was overdue for renegotiation, the Federal Government set up a team, led by Dr. Wale Babalakin to renegotiate with the union.

    He said, “It is no longer news that the renegotiation, which Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, promised was going to last for only six weeks, has broken down.

    “The reason for this very unfortunate development will appall most Nigerians. First, the leader of government team, who was supposed to be an arbiter between the parties, assumed an arrogant attitude that sought to foist a predetermined mindset of government on the union.

    Read Also: ASUU kicks against education bank

    “The union was confronted with a situation where government is bent on imposing tuition fees, beginning from N350,000 on students in the Nigerian public owned tertiary institutions.

    “On the question as to how the students will raise such money, the answer that government has is that it will establish an Education Bank, where students will, access credit facilities and pay back on completion of their studies.

    “The union, speaking from the background that education is the right and not privilege of every Nigerian child, made frantic efforts to make pragmatic explanations on the negative implications and the non-feasibility of this scheme to representatives of government to no avail.”

    According to ASUU, the leader of the government team, Babalakin, has not dropped the proposed new tuition regime, vowing that the union would resist such outrageous tuition. The union described the development as a ploy to deprive poor masses of their rights to education, saying if the Education Bank is established, many students would not be able to access loans. Adejumo further stated that the move was an agenda of some foreign bodies to continually enslave Nigerians, especially the poor ones.

    The Ibadan zonal coordinator of ASUU, recalled that the union, “after all avenues to seek the attention of government failed, went on a warning strike in 2017 to press home some demands. At the point at which the warning strike was suspended, our union signed a Memorandum of Action (MOA) with government. The summary of issues in the MOA point to some actionable tasks on the side of government and the union, aimed at redeeming the parlous state of educational sector in the country.

    “Unfortunately, we are now back to where we started with the Federal Government’s failure to implement the agreements reached with our union in the MOA.”

    Adejumo stated further that the government has always agreed that the condition in the Nigeria University “is a serious state that needs urgent intervention. As a result, government agreed to pay a quarterly intervention N20billion into a dedicated account at the Central Bank of Nigeria to pilot the revitalization scheme. Unexpectedly, government has refused to pay the said amount which has now accrued to N2trillion.

    “Instead of releasing the fund that will address the infrastructural deficit in Nigerian universities as agreed, government went to the media last week that it has given N20billion to ASUU! This propaganda of government is unhelpful as ASUU is a union and does not collect money from government.”

    Adejumo said some of the other issues that might force ASUU to go on strike are non-release of the forensic report on the disbursement of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) covering the period of 2009 to 2017 to members, failure to pay arrears of shortfall in accrued salaries in universities that have been verified under Presidential Initiative on Continuous Auditing (PICA), failure to release operational licence to National Universities Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO), and needless proliferation of state universities.

     

  • Benue killings: ASUU wants Buhari to arrest culprits

    Benue killings: ASUU wants Buhari to arrest culprits

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU ) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to go beyond condemning the killings by Fulani herdsmen in the country but arrest and prosecute perpetrators.

    It also called for victims’ compensation for those who lost their properties and relations in Rivers, Benue and Kwara states.

    The union said the rising insecurity profile under the present administration shows a faulty security architecture and policy.

    ASUU in a release signed by its University of Ibadan Chairman, Dr Deji Omole described as a sign of irresponsibility on the part of the Buhari Led federal government not to have tamed the ravaging killer-herdsmen.

    Omole who said that the Buhari government who claimed to have special interest in agriculture has failed security competency test to protect vulnerable farmers in indigenous areas of Nigeria added that the president through his inactions to Fulani carnages is compounding humanitarian and food crises in Nigeria.

    The ASUU boss who said that Nigeria will suffer when farmers are killed at-will lamented that the consequences of killing farmers is food insecurity.

    According to Omole, the president is building a dangerous trend where citizens will rise to defend themselves by taking up arms since they are not protected by the state.

    “The new year killings in some part of the country while the President was telling Nigerians that it has beaten Bokoharam should be rejected by all Nigerians. Time has come for all to rise and call on the government to fulfil her duties of protection of lives and properties or quit if it cannot do this. The government that wants people to go into agriculture but fold its arms when farmers are killed is not only irresponsive but also irresponsible. We have now added to the internally displaced profile of people in Nigeria. The problem is that the survivors are embittered that their government cannot protect them but prefers to set up campaign team for 2019 general elections. All victims must be compensated and all governors must visit the victims the way they all stormed Abuja to greet the son of the president who is hospitalised. If the son of the president is fortified with security meant for over 1,000 people even in hospital, it shows that the ruling class does not value the lives of ordinary Nigerians. ”

  • UI ASUU directs members to resume Thursday

    UI ASUU directs members to resume Thursday

    The University of Ibadan Chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Wednesday directed members of the union to begin full academic activities as from Thursday.

    The directive was given at a Congress of the union held at the Faculty of Arts of the institution and presided over by the chairman, Dr. Deji Omole.

    Omole said the development would formally be communicated to the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Idowu Olayinka.

    “ASUU has shown enough understanding with government. Our union should not be blamed if the Federal Government reneges on the signed Memorandum of Action (MoA),” he said.

    Omole called on the university management to ensure a conducive teaching, research and learning environment for the continuation of the first semester examinations and commencement of the second semester of 2016/2017 session.

    “Members are to return to the classrooms, start supervision of students although on credit as well as commence attendance of statutory meetings,” he said.

    According to Omole, since the federal government has agreed it was at fault, the new trust must not meet disappointment by the October implementation date.

    “With regards to our new MoA, any attempt by government to renege on implementation of the agreements by October will be resisted and the consequences are better imagined than experienced,” he added.

    NAN