Strike: ASUU threatens to sanction uncooperative VCs

Doosuur Iwambe, Abuja

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to sanction some “uncooperative” university vice chancellors who are not willing to participate in the ongoing strike. ASUU president, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, who was reacting to the allegation that some vice chancellors have been intimidating lecturers in their institutions and have ordered them back to the classroom, while some have reportedly commenced examinations, described the development as worrisome. He said that the union may be preparing for a confrontation with some of the vice chancellors that have defaulted and failed to cooperate. “The attitude of some of these vice chancellors is worrisome; the union will be prepared to engage such vice chancellor when the ongoing strike is suspended or called off, ”he said. While expressing regret over some members of the union, who choose to betray their conscience by opting out of the strike, the ASUU boss added that such members who may be aggrieved ought to take opportunity of available internal mechanism for resolving such crisis, saying that the union will address the issues at the appropriate time. Ogunyemi, however, noted that there are reasons some members may have opted out of the action in some campuses. According to him, some vice chancellors are uncooperative even though they will benefit from the university system that ASUU is agitating for. “In some places, some of them will misapply the fund. That is why there will continue to be crisis, so when we go back, we are going to engage many of the vice chancellors. “Like in some state universities, their governors are playing the ostrich, pretending to be funding their universities. The Daily Times recalls that ASUU had commenced an indefinite strike on November 5, 2018, demanding for increased funding of the university education by the Federal Government.