Select new VC from within to “avoid culture of strike” – Unilorin ASUU

The University of Ilorin chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has urged the Federal Government to select the institution’s new Vice Chancellor from within, “so as not to import a culture of strikes”.

Its Chairman, Dr. Usman Raheem, in a speech on Monday, at the launch of 170 ASUU Luxury Quarters, said that it would be erroneous to “import” a leader from another university where strikes and closures were “not a big deal”.

“The University of Ilorin has a culture of being stable. A vice chancellor from within its local human resources will be a better deal because he or she will strive to sustain that stability,” he said.

Our correspondent reports that the university’s ASUU had always shunned incessant strikes by their colleagues in other universities.

The school is currently in session while its counterparts have been shut down following another round of strike by ASUU.

Raheem said that the chapter merely represented a paradigm shift in trade unionism in Nigeria.

He said that the academic staff were critical stakeholders in the stability and sustainability of the university system, and urged government to recognise and reward their efforts towards sustaining the university system despite all odds.

While commending the Governing Council’s efforts toward selecting a replacement for Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, whose tenure expires in October, Raheem noted that the University “parades great minds who are managers of men and materials.

“Some have held enviable positions in our national life with exceeding success and can be good Vice Chancellors,” he noted.

Raheem urged the Federal Government to pay up the shortfall on salaries that had almost paralysed ASUU’s cooperative societies and locked up the university’s local economy for up to a year.

He also appealed to government to address the demands of ASUU so that the ongoing strike in some campuses could be called off.

“The Government should move very fast so as to save the university systems from avoidable crises,” he said.

Raheem expressed happiness that households of academic staff would benefit from the ASUU Luxury Quarters, saying that the new abodes would serve as morale booster to the lecturers.

In his address, the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ambali, said that the successful construction of the houses was a demonstration of the union’s progressive nature.

Ambali said that the ASUU, through the housing project, had laid a good foundation that could guarantee a better tomorrow for its members.

The Vice-Chancellor described the varsity’s ASUU leadership as “very focused, know its destination and how to get there”.

“The gap between the University of Ilorin and the national chapter of ASUU is small; but we only appeal for understanding because even if you have twins, they are bound to be different,” he said.

According to him, understanding the differences that exist among people and nations of the world is what keeps the whole world going.

Our correspondent reports that the ASUU Luxury Quarters comprise 100 units of houses made up of 80 units of fully-detached three bedrooms bungalow and 20 units of two bedrooms semi-detached flats built under the National Housing Fund Scheme.