ASUU decries alleged intimidation of members in Unilag by pro-chancellor

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday alleged intimation of its members in the University of Lagos by the institution’s Pro Chancellor, Dr Wale Babalakin.

The ASUU National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, who made the allegation in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos, advised Babalakin to end the alleged high-handedness in the interest of university education.

“Our attention has been drawn to the way the pro-chancellor, Dr Wale Babalakin, is ruling the University of Lagos.

“We have also been informed of the various antics he has been trying to use against our members since the commencement of our current struggle.

“Our members are fighting a just cause, and we are convinced that history will vindicate us.

“Those who are coming up with policies that will make the children of the poor to be poorer should remember that the rich will not be able to sleep when the poor are angry,” he warned.

He urged ASUU members in the university not to succumb to alleged harassment and intimidation by the pro-chancellor.

The Chairman of ASUU, Lagos Zone, Prof. Olusiji Sowade, had in a statement on Sunday alleged that the pro-chancellor had been meddlesome and dictatorial.

He said that Babalakin’s convening of a town hall meeting with the Non Academic Staff of the University (NASU) on Sept. 26 violated extant laws and traditions of the 56-year-old institution.

“The latest antics is his letter to Heads of Departments and Deans of Faculties, inviting them to a meeting on Dec. 11.

“This represents another violation of the university norm and rabid desire to scuttle the ongoing strike by union,” the zonal chairman said.

Reacting in a telephone interview with our correspondent, Babalakin said that he had yet to be aware of what the ASUU members were talking about as he just returned from abroad.

“I just arrived into the country. I am yet to see the statement by the union and I am not aware of what the union is talking about,” he said.

On his alleged plan to scuttle the strike, Babalakin said: “He who asserts must prove.”

Recall that ASUU had on Nov. 4, embarked on an indefinite nationwide strike.

The union is protesting non-implementation of agreements it reached with the Federal Government.

It is also agitating for improved funding of the university system and improved welfare package for its members, among some other demands.