The president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke was bashed on social media by many Nigerians who found his comment about state universities in Nigeria offensive.
Osodeke during his interview on Arise TV on the lingering industrial action which has paralysed academic activities in Nigerian universities for over six months described state-owned universities as quacks.
The ASUU chairman was visibly angry while responding to a question about state-owned schools that decided to pull out of the ongoing strike.
Osodeke said “When you’re providing data, look at the background, Kwara State University is not a member of ASUU, you can check. Osun State University was suspended from ASUU for misbehavior, you can check, The 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.
“ASUU doesn’t run a university, the government has a right to say we have reopened, and our members have a right to say that’s good for you we are not teaching, we are o strike. As it happened in Gombe State University, as it happened in Kaduna State University. So, don’t cite those examples, they are irrelevant. Talk about the issue. Is Ibadan on strike? Is ABU on strike? Is BUK on strike? Is Maiduguri on strike? Is Lagos on strike? Let’s talk about proper universities not those quacks”.
Osodeke’s comment sparked controversy on social media as many Nigerians opined that the union may lose Nigerians’ support in its struggle to ensure its demands are addressed by the Federal Government.
And as the six-month-old strike lingers on, there are other Nigerians who believe that the televised retort of the ASUU chairman was justified.
Reacting to the controversy, Dr. Tunde Akanni, an Associate Professor of Journalism at the Lagos State University (LASU) described Osodeke’s comment as a slip of tongue.
The lecturer said it would be unfair to isolate the ASUU chairman’s comment about state universities because many state governments that set up universities do not run the institutions in accordance with the prescriptions of the National Universities Commission (NUC).
“That was a slip of tongue. I know this man personally. It is difficult to just isolate a strand of comments and rely on that strand. Let me come out more clearly. You have a set of regulatory institutions for universities. You have the NUC, you have JAMB, and others.
“The NUC sets up standards on what an average lecturer needs to become a professor. So, a professor in state universities is not inferior to a professor in federal universities. But you now discover that these basic things that the NUC says you must provide for lecturers in the professorial cadre are provided in federal universities but not in state universities.
“So, if you find some like the ASUU president saying state universities are quacks, it’s just that a strand of his comment is being isolated”.
Dr Femi Onifade, a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Federal Polytechnics, Bauchi corroborated Akanni’s position on the matter.
According to him, higher institutions of learning established by state governments in Nigeria are often run like secondary schools. He also agreed with the ASUU president that most state-owned universities are quacks.
He said, “Some state universities are better than some federal universities. They are better funded, better staffed, better equipped, and all that. Just like polytechnics too. You can’t compare MAPOLY for instance, it’s a state poly to Federal Poly, Kazaure or Federal Poly Bauchi. But then, generally speaking, most state-owned universities and polytechnics are run like secondary schools.
“Look at Gateway Poly for instance in Igbesa, there is one at D.S Adegbenro in Itori there’s one in Sapade, all of them are like secondary schools. The governors have too much power over the schools and they staff them. So, in all honesty, most of these state universities are quacks, I agree with the ASUU chairman, but some are well funded like LASU. You won’t compare Federal Universities in Kashere or Lokoja for instance, LASU is state-owned but bigger and better by far.”
Though he believed that the controversial comment by Osodeke may not be politically correct, he maintained that if state schools wish to benefit from the ASUU struggle, they should join the strike in solidarity with Federal Universities.
“Yes, that comment by ASUU chairman may not be politically correct but he is not a politician, he is a comrade and most comrades speak from their hearts. They say it the way it is”, Onifade said.
“When the struggle is over, these so-called state schools, that refused to join would demand the benefit derived from the struggle of ASUU. If they would want to do that, then they should join the struggle, it’s common sense, collective bargaining”. he added.
But, the HOD of the Biochemistry Department at Crescent University, Abeokuta, Dr Lateef Sulaimon disagreed with Akanni and Onifade’s stand, saying it was wrong for ASUU president to use a derogatory term to describe state universities on national television.
He said, “We need to take sentiment out and face the reality of the situation. If what the FG is saying about not paying the salary for the six months that they’ve been on strike is the only condition that makes the strike to continue as claimed by the FG, I think this time, we need to move from sentiment to reality.
“Now, calling state-owned universities as quacks, I don’t think the statement is right from a learned and erudite scholar as the chairman of ASUU. That was an emotional statement and they need to consider the plights of the students and their parents.”
Sulaimon also believed that ASUU is already losing Nigerians’ support, adding that most people that are on the side of the union, now believe that ASUU is not being considerate.
