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By Gabriel Dike, Lagos
The Committee of Pro-Chancellor of State-Owned Universities (COPSUN) has warned that the body would not be forced to implement any agreement the Federal Government reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The association also tackled the National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, for describing state universities as “irrelevant and quacks” in the Nigerian University System (NUS).
COPSUN, in a statement signed by its secretary, Marcus Awobifa, said state universities cannot be forced or coerced to implement agreements reached between the Federal Government and workers in the universities to which they are not parties.
“It is time to respect the Federal nature of our government in all matters and not selectively, especially on the issues of salaries and wages,” CPSUN stated.
The group stressed that the unfortunate ill-digested view of the president of ASUU has vindicated the position of COPSUN.
“The negative professionalisation of offices of the unions that operate in our universities and the unserious believe among many members of the unions that the unions are superior to the councils of the universities that are their employers,” it added.
“The need for immediate democratisation of the membership of Unions in the universities to the extent of the freedom of any individual to belong to a Union with options of not belonging.
“Devolution of powers on the issues of labour, wages and salaries with freedom of the employers to negotiate with their employees, as it is practised in other parts of the world, where we borrowed the university system.”
Reacting to his comment about state universities, Awobifa said the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-owned Universities read with alarm and disbelieve a statement made by the President of the ASUU Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke on a television programme, where he described state universities are “irrelevant and quacks” on 26th August 2022.
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“Our first reaction was to ignore this tendentious, ill-conceived and flagrant unconscionable statement by the President of ASUU, but on reflection, it was thought necessary to do a rejoinder to this rather unfortunate statement having regard to the position of the President of ASUU in the scheme of things in our University system in Nigeria,” Awobifa noted.
The group explained that Pro-Chancellors of state universities and members of the councils are distinguished and accomplished eminent persons, who had served and still serving the nation in many capacities.
According to him, amongst COPSUN members are retired ambassadors, retired generals in the armed forces, retired vice-chancellors, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, renowned politicians and other distinguished professionals.
“It is therefore insulting, contemptuous and unbecoming for the president of ASUU to state that these esteemed individuals are presiding over quack and inconsequential universities.
“It belies belief that the president of ASUU does not realise that his loquacious vituperation and obsolete Stalinist, centralised, unpopular approach to the issue of funding of tertiary education in a modern globalised world is archaic, antiquated and impracticable anywhere in the world,” the group added.
COPSUN advised ASUU to creatively work with stakeholders to tinker out a compromise that would bring back to the campuses students, who have been insensitively thrown out of the universities for the past six months.
The group appealed to the president of the union to realise that the membership of ASUU is voluntary, thus it is not his ill-informed approach and denigration of state universities that would lead to fashioning out creative approaches to avoid existential extinction that would solve the myriad of problems confronting nation’s university system.
