Proudly Ladokite

Despite the school management saying "real progress" was being made in ensuring the school resumes academic activities as already schedules, the academic staff union has insisted that it won't continue with negotiations until the money promised by the owner-state governments is payed. Here's what the ASUU Chairman, Dr. Biodun Olaniran, said yesterday, per Punch : “The university management invited us to a meeting on September 18th and we honoured the invitation. The management wanted to start discussing with us and we asked if the owner states had credited the university’s account but they said no. “We told them there was no point going ahead with the negotiation because there was no commitment yet from the states. We told the management to inform us the moment the university’s account is credited and we would then negotiate with them. Without paying the money to the university, we won’t negotiate. “We are open to negotiation but the two state governments...

After speaking with the ASUU coordinator on Wednesday about the progress being made to end the strike, I thought it necessary to also hear from the school management's perspective. So, I interviewed the Registrar, Mr. J. A. Agboola, and in a nutshell, he reassured that ASUU and the school management were working together, and "real progress" was being made. Here's my report from the interview, published in The Nation : The Registrar of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Mr. J. A. Agboola, said on Friday that the school management and the academic staff union are working closely together to ensure the resumption of academic activities in the university as already scheduled, and that “real progress” is being made. “All the dates, by the grace of God, will stand,” he said, reacting to a statement by the academic staff union vowing not to resume despite the management announcing that the university would reopen on Friday, September...

I talked to the western region zonal coordinator of ASUU, Dr. Ade Adejumo, today about the latest on ASUU's stance regarding the strike, and precisely, the outcome of the Union's meeting with the school management on Monday. However, the answer I got was far from exciting. “Nothing has been offered to us,” Dr. Adejumo said, explaining that the union is still yet to receive the six months salary arrears promised by Oyo and Osun state government as their means of resolving the strike. "We are still where we were when we started the action.” He told the president of Union of Campus Journalists, LAUTECH, Busari Azeezat in a separate interview ASUU's agitation goes beyond salaries. “We need a sustainable way to run the institution.” Reacting to the school management's call for students to return to school, Dr. Adejumo advised parents, "Do not let the government deceive you into sending your children back to school." I reached out to the ...

There have been widespread rumors that LAUTECH is going to increase its tuition fees once it resumes. But recently, a member of the newly inaugurated governing council, Chief Babajide Bewaji, has said "there is no truth in the rumour." In an interview with The Nation, Bewaji, who is also who is the national president of LAUTECH Alumni Association, said LAUTECH’s priority right now is "to begin a hitch-free academic session." Concerning the modality for settling ASUU, he said the governors of Osun and Oyo states – Rauf Aregbesola and Senator Abiola Ajimobi – would pay three months each of the 12 months’ salary arrears owed lecturers, while the remaining six months will be restructured and paid "in no distant future." But what is to say there won't be a repeat of what happened earlier this year when the management reached an agreement with ASUU and still did not fulfill it, leading to the present strike? Well, Bewaji went ahead to say: ...