The Students’ Union of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso has given lecturers in the university 72 hours to withdraw from the ongoing strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The ASUU had on February 14 embarked on a four-week warning strike over the failure of the Federal Government to honour the 2009 agreements it reached with the union and the rot in universities.
The union also extended the strike action by another eight weeks on March 14.
But the Students’ Union of LAUTECH in a statement on Friday by the President, Anuoluwa Adeboye and Public Relations Officer, Gabriel Michael, said the students of the university had suffered too much from the past strikes.
They added that the ongoing strike had also made the fresh graduates of the school miss the mobilisation for the National Youth Service Corps orientation programme in March.
The students said they had requested a dialogue from the ASUU LAUTECH branch but stated that the union had refused to address them.
The statement read,
“As we stated in our last memo on this subject matter; The involvement of ASUU LAUTECH is not only dangerous for the students but horrendous for the University system. As a student body, we are poised towards the rectification of our prestigious institution and a better educational system.”
“On this note, It is extremely exigent for ASUU LAUTECH to openly address ladokites on why they have chosen to join the National Strike at the expense of smooth running of the academic calendar in our dear institution that is currently the best state University in Nigeria. The student’s last semester results are currently withheld and the graduating students who have been previously delayed by precarious strikes in the past are grossly affected by the four-week warning strike which was rolled over with another eight-week extension – most of them missed March Mobilisation for NYSC. Yet, another disaster looms around the corner if the prevalent maladies are not immediately curbed.”
“In the light of this, if by now the leadership of ASUU LAUTECH can’t honor the open dialogue address from the Students’ Union between ASUU LAUTECH and LAUTECH Students and they are claiming they are fighting for the ladokites interest at the federal level, we are saying it is enough.”
“We are given the leadership of ASUU LAUTECH 72hrs to borrow a leaf from ASUU KWASU that wrote a special letter to the National ASUU based on peculiarity in their institution and should opt-out of this ongoing strike or else the Students’ Union will be left with no choice other than to see ASUU LAUTECH as a sabotage to the progress of LAUTECH and Ladokites due to their selfish interest and confrontation will not be seized after 72hrs lapsed and interest of ladokites is not protected.”
