Headlines
41 Years After, ASUU Splits into Factions
- Share
- Tweet /home/rhoncare/pointblank.ng/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 69
https://pointblank.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ASUU.jpg&description=41 Years After, ASUU Splits into Factions', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
The 41-year-old Academic Staff Union of Universities has split with the formation of a new union, the Congress of University Academics.
Lecturers from five universities in the country announced the formation of CONUA in Ile-Ife on Saturday.
The lecturers, who unveiled the new union, were from the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State; Kwara State University, Malete; Ambrose Ali University Expoma, Edo State; Federal University, Oye-Ekiti and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
But ASUU President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, in an interview with The PUNCH on Sunday said the union was not aware of any splinter group.
Ogunyemi said some vice-chancellors, who were rebuked for high-handedness, were encouraging members of the union in their institutions to rebel.
‘We’ll ensure stable academic calendar’
Addressing journalists during the first stakeholders’ meeting of the new group at the OAU, CONUA National Coordinator, Dr Niyi Sumonu, explained that the new group was formed because of the need for new approach in handling issues affecting universities across the country.
Sumonu said the first mandate of the new union was to ensure a stable academic calendar in order to improve quality of education in the country’s ivory towers.
He said, “For standard of education to be very high, we need a stable academic calendar. We need to be able to predict academic session. We need to have innovation which is difficult without continuity.
“We also need to be in tune with modern realities. Our union will approach the matter of engagement with all stakeholders in an engaging manner to have a common ground for moving forward.”
We are not anti-govt –New union
“Our union is not anti-government, if government and by extension, administrators of universities are doing well, we will let the world know and we will quickly knock them, provide alternative constructive criticism and take them to task where they are not doing well.
“We will not wait for them to make mistakes before we intervene. We have vision and will provide ahead what can be done to have better results. If that is done we are sure we will have a better way to move forward.
“Members believe we should have alternative ways of solving problems. Members have been contributing very well to the finance of the union. When we fulfill and do all that we need to do, financial constraints will be forgotten.
“We have been at this for over three years in Ife. We have been waxing stronger and members from other universities have been experiencing what we experienced here, hence, the decision to come together to form a national union,” Sumonu added.
Asked if the union was not out to rival ASUU, the flagship umbrella body for lecturers, CONUA National Publicity Secretary, Dr Nwoke Earnest, explained that another key objective of the group was to “redefine academic unionism in Nigeria and is not ready to take issue with any union.”
He explained that CONAU would prefer to proffer solutions to issues before they become problematic, adding that the essence of forming the group was to enhance interaction with the educational system without being confrontational but through a synergy that would involve all stakeholders.
Some VCs determined to split our union –ASUU
The ASUU National President, Ogunyemi, said some lecturers who were sanctioned by the union about two years ago had decided to kick against the sanctions by forming a parallel group.
Ogunyemi said, “I don’t know that group that they are talking about. What happened at OAU was that there were some people we sanctioned two years back; those people that acted contrary to the letters and spirit of our constitution. We sanctioned them and they decided to kick against the sanctions.
“Some of them agreed to serve the punishment and they have since rejoined the union. But those who do not want to serve the terms of punishment are now saying they will join forces with some individuals who have issues with the union.
“As far as we know, that is what they have been trying to do and we have been on that for about two years now. What I know is that whether in Ife, Oye Ekiti or Lokoja, we know that some vice-chancellors are encouraging rebellion against the union. Particularly in Oye Ekiti and Lokoja, we have issues with their VCs because of the way they are running their universities.
“ASUU has had reasons to complain publicly about the high-handedness of the VCs. Those VCs expectedly will want to take it out on the union and encourage that kind of rebellious attitude.”
FG sets up panel to vet CONUA’s application
On his part, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said the Federal Government was looking at the application submitted by CONUA.
Although the minister confirmed the group was not registered yet, he noted that he had asked a committee to look into the application.
The Minister of Labour and Employment in a telephone interview on Sunday, said, “They (the new union) are not registered yet. Their application is with the ministry. It has not been treated. We will look at it. We are still looking at their application. I have asked a committee to look at it.
“When we look at the committee report, we will see. The application came since April. It is passing through a process.”
The Punch
President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to depart Abuja on Thursday for Makkah, Saudi Arabia, to perform Umrah and pray for Nigeria’s peace, unity, stability and progress.
According to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the visit will provide Tinubu an opportunity for spiritual reflection, devotion and prayers for the country.
While in Makkah, the President will perform the religious rites associated with Umrah, an Islamic spiritual exercise involving a pilgrimage to the holy city, and seek Allah’s guidance and blessings for Nigeria and its people.
Before departing Abuja, Tinubu will commission equipment acquired by the Nigerian Air Force for its operations at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
The President is expected to return to Nigeria next week after completing the spiritual exercise.
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said President Bola Tinubu’s request for approval to borrow $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion vindicates his October 12 warning about a loan plan of up to $20 billion.
Atiku said the President’s failure to identify the specific projects the loans would fund raises serious concerns that borrowed public money could be channelled through the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, now rerouted inland, to political campaigners and favoured contractors.
In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said:
“On October 12, I warned Nigerians that President Tinubu was reportedly preparing to borrow up to $20 billion in connection with the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway. I asked him to confirm or deny the plan and publish the accounts. He did neither. Today, he has asked the Senate to approve $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion in external loans. My warning has been vindicated.
“The President has listed broad sectors but has not provided a project by project account of what this enormous borrowing will fund. Nigerians have not been given clear project details, costs, locations or contractors to scrutinise.
“That silence is especially troubling given the highway’s inland rerouting. Nigerians have every right to ask whether it is becoming a pipeline for borrowed money to reach Tinubu’s campaigners and favoured contractors. Barely 12 weeks before an election, how can the President ask lawmakers to saddle Nigerians with more than $20 billion and €1 billion in debt without identifying the projects and their costs? Is this a development plan for Nigerians or a campaign financing scheme dressed up as infrastructure?
“You cannot continue taking frivolous loans on the eve of your departure from office. Let it be on record that one of the first responsibilities I will undertake as President is to scrutinise and investigate every kobo borrowed, especially loans taken in the final year of your tenure. Nigerians will ask questions, and we will find the answers by every lawful means.
“I put local and international lenders on notice: any loan granted to this winding down administration must meet all constitutional, statutory and due process requirements. Upon assumption of office, I will scrutinise every such loan. Any borrowing found to have been obtained without proper authorisation or process will be challenged and will not be allowed to stand.
“The National Assembly must not approve a single dollar until the President publishes every project, contract, cost, contractor, loan term and repayment obligation. No public money should be borrowed in the dark, and no lawmaker should sign a blank cheque against Nigeria’s future.”
Atiku said the burden was on Tinubu to prove that the borrowing would serve the country, not his political interests. He urged lawmakers to publish the proposal and supporting documents and subject them to rigorous scrutiny before any decision.
He added that families already struggling with a cost of living crisis should not be made to carry debts they did not approve. The woman fighting to keep her business alive and the worker spending their income just to feed deserve to know where the money is going, who will benefit and who will pay. At the ballot box, Nigerians will have the chance to reject a government that borrows against their future while taking their sacrifices for granted.
The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, on Thursday, criticised President Bola Tinubu’s “Emi Lokan” slogan ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Makinde said Nigerians do not need “turn-by-turn nepotism”, arguing that voters should be free to decide who becomes the country’s next president in 2027.
The Oyo State governor spoke during the APM’s town hall meeting in Akure, Ondo State.
Makinde asked: “How can someone say ‘Eemi lokan’ in a country like Nigeria? You were given the opportunity. If you recall the 1999 presidential election, the South-West voted massively for Baba Olu Falae, but the rest of Nigerians voted for Baba Obasanjo. So, this is not an issue that only the South-West can resolve; it is an issue we must address collectively as Nigerians.
“We do not want ‘turn-by-turn nepotism’, nor do we want a situation where people say, ‘I will vote for projects because it is my turn’. You will not finish those projects, and when it becomes someone else’s turn, they will do the same thing. We will end up with a Nigeria where we cannot get value for the resources belonging to Nigerians.
“The Reset Nigeria agenda is about building a country where infrastructure development supports economic growth and addresses the concerns of young people and women.
“Once we fix our economy, no zone will be left behind, and no demographic group will be left behind.”
