Unilorin refuses to join ASUU strike

According to ASUU, the government has only implemented the agreement partially, while reneging on its promise to honour the agreement by massively funding universities to revitalise the sub-sector.However, federal universities are currently on strike with the exception of University of Ilorin, another federal university which has, times without number, dissociated itself from the strikes ASUU […]

According to ASUU, the government has only implemented the agreement partially, while reneging on its promise to honour the agreement by massively funding universities to revitalise the sub-sector.
However, federal universities are currently on strike with the exception of University of Ilorin, another federal university which has, times without number, dissociated itself from the strikes ASUU has embarked upon over the years.
With the commencement of the ongoing strike, virtually all federal universities suspended academic activities but the reverse was the case in the University of Ilorin.
It would be recalled that the university since the tenure of the former Vice-Chancellor, Professor Shuaib Abdulraheem, has been suspended by the national ASUU; a development which the institution leveraged on to run an uninterrupted academic calendar for over a decade. From Abdulraheem’s tenure followed by those of Professor Shamsudeen Amali, Professor Is-haq Oloyede and the present tenure of Professor Abdulganiyu Ambali, it has become a tradition for the university not to join ASUU strike.
The development is viewed with mixed feelings from stakeholders. While some say it is a good development for the students who are sure of completing their four, five or six years programmes, as the case may be, on schedule, others argue that the refusal of Unilorin ASUU to join the strike may not be a good idea given that the current ASUU struggle does not exclude Unilorin if it materialises.
When Daily Trust visited Unilorin, postgraduate and few undergraduate students especially final year students were seen on campus going about their normal academic activities as the university completed the second semester examination two weeks ago. Staff members of the university seemed to have become so used to the system that no one is aware of the ongoing ASUU strike.
Some of the students who spoke to our correspondent said it is not new that the university has not been joining ASUU strike.
 Chris Ojo, a 400-level student of Economics said, “that Unilorin has not been going on strike is a good thing for the students. As a student, I won’t want to come for a four-year programme and finish after six years, and don’t forget this is not the first time we would be opting out of a strike”.
However, he cautioned that, “opting out of the strike may not be entirely good because Unilorin will also enjoy whatever comes out of the strike.”
Also speaking, Folorunsho Razaq, a 500 level Mechanical Engineering student, said, “personally I agree with Unilorin for not going on strike. I think the strike affects the students more than the lecturers and that is why students rush to come to Unilorin. Some other universities too tried not to join the strike but they had to succumb to pressure.”
According to him, strike is becoming increasingly irrelevant and urged ASUU to consider the plight of students and “stop the recurrent strike because it is not helping the students, it is helping the lecturers as they would have time to face their personal businesses.”
On her part, Funto Oguntoyinbo, a Remedial student noted that other students in the striking universities are not happy with the recurring strikes. However, she urged the federal government to listen to ASUU’s demands.
For Aisha Adebayo, a 500 level Law student, the university also has its own challenges. “We have not been going on strike and I am happy about that.”
Speaking with newsmen last week, Chairman of ASUU, Unilorin chapter, Professor Wahab Egbewole, disclosed that they got to know of the strike on the pages of newspaper, noting, however, that the local chapter was not averse to working harmoniously with the national headquarters of the union.
He said: “It is important to note that before a union will go on strike, there is the need for consultations. Up till now, I have not been informed in any way or form of communication and I sincerely believe that other universities participating in the strike did not get the directive on the pages of newspapers.
“I have said it severally at our congresses that we are not averse to a positive working relationship with the ASUU national headquarters. We have made several efforts towards this development which were rebuffed.”
Egbewole added that as far as Unilorin is concerned, strike is not the solution to industrial disputes.
“As far as we are concerned in University of Ilorin, strike is not the solution to any form of disagreement, and this is not to say that the federal government is not at fault in the present scenario.
“If the federal government voluntarily and willingly signed an agreement with ASUU in 2004 and up till about a year ago the agreement was not implemented, its less than honourable on the part of the federal government.”