(NAN) The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), South-West Zone, has condemned the move by the Federal Government to privatise universities’ staff schools in the country.
Vice President of SSANU in South-West, Mr Alfred Jimoh, made the condemnation during a protest by the association on the University of Ilorin campus on Thursday in Ilorin. Jimoh called for the removal of the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie “for his involvement in the proposed privatisation of the university staff schools. Jimoh expressed the union’s displeasure over a circular dated March 5th, 2014 and issued by the Federal Ministry of Education directing that funding of staff schools from the Federal Government’s budget be stopped. He described the circular as “repungnant, in bad taste and offensive” to the mandates of educational institutions in Nigeria. “The implementation of such a directive will not only run contrary to the purpose of the creation of universities, but will undermine the prevailing industrial peace in universities.”
Jimoh, therefore, urged the Federal Government to avoid actions that could lead to unrest on campuses. He warned that SSANU will embark on warning strike if the government went ahead with the plan. The protesters were drawn from University of Ibadan, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, and Federal University, Oye-Ekiti. (NAN)
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