The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), LAUTECH chapter has berated the governments of Osun and Oyo, which are joint owners of the university for abandoning the institution despite promises earlier made by the duo.
The union accused Governors Abiola Ajimobi and Rauf Aregbesola of running the citadel aground through their lackadaisical approach to the need of the institution.
The Zonal Coordinator of ASUU in Ibadan, Dr. Ade Adejumo, at a press conference in Osogbo, the Osun state capital, said all conditions spelt out in the Memorandum of Action (MoA) signed with the Governing Council of the school on behalf of the two states have been practically reneged upon with impunity.
He added that the only response the union got after resumption from the protracted strike early this year was the 1bn (one billion Naira) released by the Osun State government, which was used to pay three months salaries.
Adejumo however chided the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Bola Tinubu, who holds sway as the Chancellor of the University for keeping mute while the crisis continues to degenerate.
He wondered the essence of Tinubu retaining the position of the Chancellor if he could not intervene and save the institution from collapse.
“Reneging on agreement reached at the point of suspending the protracted strike, coupled with passive response of the two owner governments towards the present challenges facing the University were indeed an height of irresponsibility on the part of the two governors.
“As I speak to you, every thing is in limbo at LAUTECH. We have almost lost accreditation for all our courses because there is no funding to carry out research and equip our laboratories and libraries.
“Staff are not being motivated to passionately impact knowledge as there are huge backlog of salaries and allowances.
“As a result of this anomaly, many lecturers have left while many have retired, and there has not been replacement in the last 10 years thereby rendering the institution highly understaffed.
“We are calling on the two Governors of Oyo and Osun to let the general public know if they are tired and could no longer fund the University,
“They should come out and disclose their plans for LAUTECH. If they want to liquidate the University, they should be bold enough to tell the whole world that they are doing so.
“We are currently on two weeks warning strike. We are by this action calling the attention of stakeholders to the fact that LAUTECH is on the brink of final disintegration.”
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