UPDATE: LAUTECH Management and ASUU are Making “Real Progress” - Registrar

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 15.

The Nation had reported on Thursday that the academic staff union of LAUTECH is insisting on continuing their strike action, even after meeting with the university management on Monday, September 18, until they receive the 6 months salary arrears promised them by the owner-state government, Oyo and Osun.

“Nothing has been offered to us,” Dr. Ade Adejumo, ASUU zonal coordinator, had said. “We are still where we were when we started the action.”

However, in his interview with The Nation Friday, Mr. Agboola, maintained that the management and unions are making headway in restoring normalcy in the university.

“We are making progress,” he said. “Real progress is being made.”

He also said that the management and the unions are working together, adding it is “all for the good of the system.”

When I asked about the progress being made with the N4 billion government funding Senate President Bukola Saraki promised in July, and N9 million already crowdfunded by the FundLAUTECH campaign launched in June by some alumni of the university, Mr. Agboola declined to comment, explaining that it was outside his purview.