Unilorin’s 20yr labor feud ends

There are strong indications that the two-decade-long feud between the University of Ilorin chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the national headquarters of the union will soon be resolved. This is sequel to series of consultations between the chapter, led by its chairman, Dr. Usman Adebimpe Raheem, and the remnants of […]

There are strong indications that the two-decade-long feud between the University of Ilorin chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the national headquarters of the union will soon be resolved.

This is sequel to series of consultations between the chapter, led by its chairman, Dr. Usman Adebimpe Raheem, and the remnants of the erstwhile splinter group under the leadership of Dr. Kayode Afolayan as supervised by a delegation from the national headquarters led by Dr. Ben Ugheoke.

In the end, a five-point resolution was signed by the parties.

Reacting to the development, Dr. Raheem said the cessation of hostilities is a welcome development.

The chairman also acknowledged the intervention of the management of the university, at which instance the reconciliatory process was initiated, saying that his members were always for the peace and progress of the university.

He recalled that the panel had extensive interactions with members to arrive at compromises and sacrifices with the conclusion that none of the parties should do anything to undermine the peace process.

Justifying the reconciliation, Raheem said it was unfair to allow staff and students of the university, who were not part of the over two-decade-old feud, to bear the brunt of the protracted crisis.

He also dismissed apprehension in some quarters that the re-integration will open the university to the floodgate of perennial strikes, saying that both the union and the management will continue to do everything possible to ensure that the prevailing peace is sustained.

“We can now walk freely to any campus in Nigeria, interact with colleagues, collaborate with academics from other universities for research, examination and peer review purposes,” he explained.

Raheem also said “modalities are still being worked out for proper mainstreaming and possible election of new executives at the long run.”