ASUU President Under Fire for Calling State-owned Varsities ‘Quacks’

Arrant nonsense…Osodeke should get educated, Michael Okpara University where he teaches doesn’t have our standard,” Ekiti, Osun States’ Varsities reply ASUU President over comment that the institutions are quacks 

 

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Emmanuel Osodeke, has come under sharp criticism for referring to other universities that announced resumption despite the union’s ongoing strike as “quacks.”

Responding on Arise Television on Thursday to questions on the impact of the Nigerian government’s “No work, No Pay” rule on the universities and whether it is responsible for some universities’ decision to suspend the strike, Mr Osodeke, a professor, said the universities that pulled out of the strike are not members of his union.

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He said: “When you are providing data, look at the background. Kwara State University is not a member of ASUU, Osun State University was suspended for its behaviour, you can check. LASU, you mentioned. We are in court with LASU because they sacked all our executives five years ago so they are not part of this struggle and Ekiti State University’s government has the right to say we have reopened just as it has happened in Gombe State University, Yobe and Kaduna State University.

Osodeke

“So, don’t cite those examples as they are irrelevant. Talk about the issue, is the University of Ibadan on strike? Is the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) on strike? Is Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) on strike? Is Bayero University Kano (BUK) on strike? Is University of Maiduguri on strike and the University of Lagos? Let’s talk about real universities, not those quacks.”

The ASUU president’s comment has generated reactions among Nigerians including university scholars and Nigerian academics.

Universities respond

The Vice-Chancellor, Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Professor Odunayo Clement Adebooye has described the president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Emmanuel Osodeke as a careless talker by saying universities that are not on strike are ‘quacks’.

Professor Adebooye said the state university has 481 full-time academic staff and among them, 387 are full-time Ph.D. holders, “this is not a quack.”

Professor Adebooye said the state university has 481 full-time academic staff and among them, 387 are full-time Ph.D. holders, “this is not a quack.”

ASUU President, while featuring on Arise TV’s ‘The Morning Show’ on Thursday, called state universities; Osun State University, Kwara State University, Lagos State University and Kwara State University quacks.

According to him, “Kwara State University is not a member of ASUU. Osun State University was suspended from ASUU for misbehaviour. We are in court with LASU (Lagos State University) because they sacked all our executives more than five years ago. They were not part of this struggle.”

The UNIOSUN Vice-Chancellor responded to ASUU’s claim while answering questions from journalists at a press conference on Friday; announcing the approval and accreditation of the institution’s bachelor of medicine bachelor of surgery (MBBS) programme by the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council (NMDC).

It will be recalled that UNIOSUN started the MBBS programme with the approval of the National Universities Commission in 2012. The programme was discontinued shortly after due to some operational challenges which led to the transfer of the enrolled students to Ukraine by the State Government to complete their programmes.

Professor Adebooye noted that the NMDC not only approved the MBBS programme but also increased the admission quota for the programme from 50d to 100 students.

“Between January and August 2022, our academic members of staff have demonstrated the “can do spirit” in research and they have excelled in this world of stiff but healthy competition for research grants. I am glad to inform you we have six grants amounting to about US$300,000 in the last 8 months,” he said this in his address during.

Meanwhile, while reacting to the ASUU president’s statement, the Vice-Chancellor said Osun state university takes very serious exceptions for having mentioned the institution as a quack university and demanded the withdrawal of the statement from Professor Osodeke.

 

According to him, the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUA), where ASUU President teaches, does not have UNIOSUN’s achievements.

“ASUU President should go and check my profile, I cannot preside on quack university. He has expressed his opinion and that is his, the University he teaches does not have our achievements.

“He was here this year and commended the quality of what he saw here, the infrastructure, only a few universities. Osun state university takes very serious exceptions for having mentioned the institution as a quack university.

“He shouldn’t talk about what he doesn’t know if he wants to continue being a true professor. A true professor finds facts and bases of whatever they say, he should get educated, I challenge him to get educated.

“Referring UNIOSUN as a quack university is a careless statement and not expected from ASUU President who is a professor; who must not make a statement without facts.” the VC said.

In the same vein, the management of Ekiti State University (EKSU) has replied to Mr Osodeke, rejecting its categorisation among ‘quack’ universities, even as it described the comments as “totally unacceptable and condemnable”.

The university, therefore, demanded a retraction and an apology from the president.

“The Management calls on Professor Osodeke to toe the path of honour by retracting the provocative remark and tender an unreserved apology without further delay,” it said in a statement by its Head of Directorate of Information and Corporate Affairs, Bode Olofinmuagun.

The statement noted that the university viewed the comments as “denigrating, unfortunate, reckless and unwarranted.”

The statement further noted that EKSU is currently the 14th best university in Nigeria and the 2nd best state government-owned university, according to the recent Webometric ranking of universities.

It added that the university has nearly all its academic programmes accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and relevant professional regulatory bodies.

The statement further read: “The university is proud to have many top-rated globally recognised academics, and its alumni are making waves both nationally and internationally. By the grace of God, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, the Governor-elect of Ekiti State is an alumnus and a former lecturer at the university. Even in ASUU, a number of staff of our university had served and still serving in various capacities at zonal and national levels including but not limited to Professor Afolabi Popoola, Dr Sikiru Eniola, Profs. Eddy Olanipekun, Ayan Adeleke and Olu-Olu Olufayo.

“Therefore, categorising EKSU as among the quack and irrelevant universities is a testimony to the fact that the ASUU President is probably uninformed and/or bereft of ideas. This arrant nonsense coming from Comrade Osodeke is totally unacceptable and condemnable.”

Other reactions

A Nigerian commentator, Yusuf Usman, noted that Mr Osodeke has betrayed the essence of quality leadership by making ‘irresponsible’ statements “on a section of the constituency that has placed him on the saddle of leadership.”

He said it is wrong for Mr Osodeke, the president of a union that prides itself as an association of intellectuals, to refer to the universities whose members of staff elected him as “quack” universities.

He added that the ASUU president’s comments portray a betrayal of trust “and he must either prove his charges against these universities with facts and figures or publicly tender unreserved apology for his inciting, indecent and unsubstantiated diatribe.”

Another Nigerian academic from the Federal University, Gashua, Yobe State, Dagari, noted that it is a shame to hear such a statement from the ASUU president on live television.

He described the comments as an insult of the highest order, saying Mr Osodeke “has gone down in history as the worst ASUU national president ever.”

Mr Dagari added that the ASUU president should not be allowed to preside over the proceedings of the forthcoming National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union.

He said: “It is now very clear, the confused Professor doesn’t have the requisite qualities to lead the union of intellectuals”

“At last, the man (Mr Osodeke) has told the world the official status of state universities. ASUU should now stop blaming Buhari, Ngige, Adamu Adamu et al on the protracted ASUU-FGN face-off.”

Back Story

Since the commencement of the current strike by ASUU on 14 February, the government has adopted a ‘no work no pay’ rule, saying the law does not say workers on strike should be paid for work not done.

ASUU has, however, remained adamant that all of its demands must be met before any of its members –including those in the state universities– will suspend the strike.

However, following threats to withdraw subventions of the state-owned universities by their state governors, some institutions including Kaduna State University and Ekiti State University, suspended the strike.

While the state governments claim that ASUU’s dispute is with the federal government, the union said they do have a rift with state governments that do not fund their universities. They accused the state governments of leaving the institutions to feed solely on funds from the Tertiary Education Trustfund (TETFund) and describing them as “TETFund universities.”.

Part of ASUU’s demand is an end to what it described as the proliferation of universities, describing these new universities as “constituency projects.”

Source: Premium Times

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