LASU’S teachers union chiefs at The Guardian, berate VC
Urge probe of expenditure, contracts, others
THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Lagos State University (LASU) chapter, yesterday accused the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Adigun Fagbohun, of working to fulfil the aborted mission of the ousted Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Obafunwa.
The union chiefs, who visited Rutam House, headquarters of Theguardian, said from their analysis of Fagbohun’s activities in the institution, he was extending Obafunwa’s administration, as he (Fagbohun) was pursuing all the issues that led to the previous crisis.
The Chairman of the union, Dr. Isaac Akinloye Oyewumi, led other members of the team, including its Secretary, Dr. Tony Dansu, immediate past chairman, Dr. Adekunle Idris, Vice Chairman, Dr. Wale Adeyemi, and other executive members.
They revisited some of the issues that led to the crisis in the institution, insisting that unless management retraces its steps and amends its misdeeds, the university would not witness peace and development.
Oyewumi and his team advised the management to urgently publish openings for the positions of registrar, bursar and librarian, saying none of the officers would be recognised a day after their tenure lapses in May 2018.
Dansu said some of the contentious issues include illegal dismissal of the union’s chairman and his vice; election of deputy vice chancellor and wastage of N1.3 billion National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) assessment fund.
Others are doctored conditions and schemes of service; resistance to the reversal of Dr. O.T.F. Abanikannda’s professorial chair; continuous victimisation of Obafunwa’s perceived enemies; aiding the registry to manipulate governing council’s decisions, among others.
“After working and walking through hell under Obafunwa’s leadership, the LASU community was hopeful of having a good administration with Fagbohun, who is a scholar and administrator that understands the university system and its culture.
“But what we are seeing is continuous victimisation of members of staff who contributed to Obafunwa’s removal as vice chancellor for a second term,” Dansu stated.
The union, therefore, demanded the investigation of how Obafunwa spent N1.3 billion NEEDS assessment funds the Federal Government allocated to LASU after ASUU’S struggles in 2013 for government to revitalise all public universities. It also alleged that all the contracts were awarded without the knowledge of the governing council and the university’s tenders’ board and without a Budget Monitoring Committee, as required by the conditions governing the NEEDS funds, yet Fagbohun has not done anything about it.
The union appealed to LASU management to address all the issues and appealed to the people of Lagos State and Nigeria to intervene in the matter to avert the looming crisis in the institution.