From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Chapter, has vowed that its members would not return for lectures, until the ongoing nationwide industrial action declared by the national body of the union is called off.
The resolution followed a memo issued by the institution’s Registrar, asking students to return to school on Thursday May 26, 2022,.for the commencement of the first semester of the 2021/2022 academic session.
The Chairman and Secretary of ASUU in LAUTECH, Biodun Olaniran, and Toyin Abegunrin, in a statement on Friday reiterated the fact that the academic staff of the institution “are fully on strike in line with the directives of the national body of the union and will not return to class until directed by the national body of the union.
“We urge the parents, guardians, students and general public to note that our members are not in position to conduct any academic activities. Our members are fully on strike. Parents should discontenance the memo and keep their children at home.
“The strike is not targeted at the Vice-Chacellor, the students or the university community, but focused on the struggle to reposition public funded universities in Nigeria, which will benefit the children of the masses, the university community and the country.
“Parents should visit the LAUTECH campus and count how many TEFTFUND structures are on the campus which are products of the struggles of the union. The demands of the union are yet to be met by the Federal Government, neither has the LAUTECH administration paid the owned Earned Academic Allowances being owed staff.
“Our union is in receipt of the Memo from the University Registrar, calling for resumption of academic activities for the First Semester of the 2021/2022 Academic Session on Thursday May 26, 2022. The Academic Staff Union of Universities LAUTECH branch wishes to dissociate itself from the said memo. This is against the principles of our union and we wish to inform the general public that our branch is actively participating and also in full support of the ongoing national struggle.
“As you are aware, LAUTECH branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is involved in the on-going, 12 weeks roll-over strike by our union. We want to draw the attention of Federal Government to implement Memorandum of Action (MoA), signed with ASUU in 2020. The MoA encapsulates all that needed to be done to make our public universities (Federal or State) internationally competitive.
“The decision to embark on this action was communicated to the university administration. As clearly stated by our union, the ‘on-going strike embarked upon by ASUU is not intended against any Vice-Chancellor, University Administration, students or any group within or outside the system.
“It must be emphasized that, the strike has not been vacated and neither has the subsisting demands made by LAUTECH branch on the university administration addressed.”
