Oduduwa News

The Vice Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Professor Temitope Ogunbodede has announced lifting of ban on the suspended students’ union activities in the campus.

The Vice Chancellor made the remark yesterday while speaking at a programme organized to honour late Afenifere spokesman who was also an alumnus of the institution, Yinka Odumakin.

The VC showered encomium on the deceased for the life well spent, he likened the late Afenifere Spokesman to a dogged fighter that could not be replaced.

“Great Ife, I am here today to honour our late brother, an alumnus of our great institution, traditionally I shouldn’t have been here because I am older than him but culturally I am here to honour him as we do in Great Ife, we don’t mourn but to honour our late hero.

“I must say at this point, that Odumakin contributed immensely to the growth of Obafemi Awolowo University and it will not be out of point if we celebrate him for the indelible mark laid before his departure.

“Odumakin who was a union leader and served in the capacity of Public Relations Officer PRO of Great Ife Students’ Union, fought gallantly for the rights of his colleagues while on campus, he was rusticated for what he believed in and it took the intervention of Femi Falana SAN, an alumnus and several human rights’ activists before he was reinstated.

This life of activism prepared and propelled him to be the vocal voice of Afenifere, a Yoruba Social Cultural group. I was a member of students’ union while on campus and the decision I took to partially ban students’ union was painful but we had no option than to take it to prevent breaking down of laws and orders”.

He further stated that Great Ife graduates are known for excellence and they always take the lead in anywhere they find themselves. You will recall that the students’ union has been a solid training ground for so many leaders in all facets of life in Nigeria. Many renowned journalists in Nigeria like the Odumakin, Sam Omatseye and others excelled in journalism despite the fact that OAU does not have a course in journalism but this has been so because students’ union served as a training ground for them.

It is on this note, on the occasion of today that we are celebrating a rare gem whose death is a collosal loss to Great Ife community and Nigeria at large that I announce the lifting of ban on students’ union activities”, said Ogunbodede.

The students at the event that took place at Oduduwa Hall had their joy to know no bounds as they were seen chanting different solidarity songs.

The Governing Council of Ekiti State University, EKSU, Ado Ekiti has announced the immediate proscription of all the four workers unions in the university,

The proscribed unions are Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Non-Academic Union of Allied and Education Institutions (NASU).

Also, the university has been closed and all academic activities are hereby suspended.

A statement on Friday, by Bode Olofinmuagun, Head, Directorate of Information and Corporate Affairs of EKSU said proscription of the unions and closure of the university was “as a result of the continuous disruption of lawful activities on campus which have endangered lives and property in the last one week.”

It should be recalled that during the first tenure of Dr Kayode Fayemi as governor of Ekiti State, Students Union Government was also proscribed in EKSU.

The statement read; “The Governing Council of Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti announces the immediate closure of the University.
All academic activities are hereby suspended.

“This is as a result of the continuous disruption of lawful activities on campus which have endangered lives and property in the last one week.

“Consequently, to guarantee peace and orderliness on campus, all the four unions ( ASUU, SSANU, NAAT and NASU) are hereby proscribed with immediate effect.

“All students are advised to vacate the campus forthwith.”

It should be recalled that since Monday, EKSU workers, especially senior staff and lecturers had occupied the campus to press home their pending demands from the state government and the university management.

The protesters occupied the university causing a standstill of traffic and activities on campus for over two hours.

They were singing solidarity songs and vowed to increase the intensity of the protest day by day.

The unions are aggrieved that the state government has not met their demands for payment of three months’ salary arrears dated 2018, six years of earned academic allowances and unremitted cooperative deductions among other demands.

The Chairman of ASUU, EKSU Chapter, Mr. Kayode Arogundade accused the State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi of shunning several appeals from the union and other intermediaries.

“As of today, Ekiti State Government is only subventing EKSU by 50 percent of its monthly wage bills, without paying any considerable attention to capital grants and infrastructural developments,” he said.

“This has led EKSU Administration to ingloriously indulge in financial infractions, such as Subversion of Tax Deductions to paying salaries; Diversion of Pension deductions to paying salaries and Fund diversion from units of the University.

“This is just the beginning; we are going to do this until we occupy the government house. After all, we are asking for our rights. If we go on strike the children of ordinary Nigerians will be home, the VC and Chairman of Council will be at home spending our money, the governor will be at home spending our resources.

“Before we go on strike, we will make this state ungovernable for them, we’ll make this school ungovernable for them.”

The unions vowed to go beyond the usual strike action this time as they have threatened to make the university and state ungovernable until their requests are granted.

But the state government has blamed the situation on over-bloated recruitment done by the immediate past administration and the inability of EKSU to meet its own portion of subvention.

Special Adviser to Governor Kayode Fayemi on Tertiary Education, Sikiru Eniola, pleaded with the protesters to embrace dialogue and also find alternative funding channels in the face of dwindling revenue.

Some workers of the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti converged at the school to protest the non-payment of their salaries on April 19, 2021.