ASUU Strike: "Provide Evidence Of 200 Billion Naira Payment" - Lawyer Tells Government

 
The Nigerian government has been asked to make the evidence of the 200 billion Naira it claims to have paid into a Central Bank Account, as agreed with the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), public.

This call was made after the government spokesman, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said that the Federal Government had deposited the money into a CBN Account, as it was previously agreed with the union.

But a public affairs analyst, Mr. Victor Odunaiya, described the statement as a strategy by the government to find justification for its actions, insisting that an evidence is required.

“The government has not complied with the agreement and it is insincerity on their part,” he told Channels Television on Wednesday’s edition of Sunrise Daily.

Mr. Odunaiya, urged the FG to send a copy of the evidence of payment to the ASUU leaders.

“The government says it has made payment but ASUU is not notified. If they were notified then they would not be justified for continuing the strike."

‘Political Language’
“What is wrong with Okupe bringing a copy of the payment and handing it over to the union or what is wrong with the CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi, calling the leadership of the union to confirm payment?” he questioned.

Odunaiya, who is also a lawyer, said that since 2009, the Government had not deemed it feat to meet their obligations towards the union.

“How do you expect them to accept oral speech or comments?” he also questioned.

The lawyer supported the view that an agreement should be enforceable among the parties that reached the agreement and must carry in it clauses that would ensure its enforcement.

Mr. Odunaiya called on both the government and the union to reconsider their positions as the parents and students are suffering from the current situation.



source:naijnews

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ASUU Strike: FG Shifts Ultimatum Deadline

 
The Federal Government on Monday shifted the deadline for the strikers from December 4 to December 9.
Previously the government, through the acting Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, had ordered the striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resume work on December 4.
However, on Tuesday the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Julius Okojie, announced the new date while addressing journalists in Abuja.
He said the Government had shifted the deadline after it received notification of Prof. Festus Iyayi’s funeral rites slated for between December 5 and 7.
Former ASUU President Mr. Iyayi tragically died on November 12, 2013 in auto crash in Lokoja on his way to attend the association’s meeting in Kano.
“We just received information that the burial rites of Festus Iyayi begins on the December 5 and would last till December 7.
“Based on this information, government decided to shift the resumption deadline to December 9, to enable lecturers to participate in the burial,” Okojie explained.
The executive secretary said the directive had been communicated to the various university Governing Councils and Vice Chancellors for onward transmission to the academic staff. He also added that there was no intention to victimise any lecturer for participating in the strike. He said the victimisation clause which members of ASUU were using to discredit the government never came up when the unionists met with President Goodluck Jonathan on November 4.
It was also mentioned that the order does not require students to commence lectures immediately.
“The school environment had to be made habitable for both students and the entire staff of the universities.’’
He said any lecturer who resumed work after the expiration of the new deadline would not have his or her salary arrears paid.
“You cannot pay someone who has failed to resume work. You are on strike and you want to be paid?
The ASUU President, Nasir Fagge, had earlier explained that the union did not add any new demands in its letter to the president.
ASUU President Nasir Fagge  condemned government’s ultimatum, noting that the government’s letter after the meeting with President Jonathan (aimed and problem resolution) was not a total reflection of what transpired during the meeting.
"The document was a report of Government’s understanding of the decisions or agreement reached on the matters discussed with ASUU,” he said.



source:naijnews

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ASUU: "We Will Not Return To Class" – Lecturers Say

Striking lecturers on Tuesday insisted that they would not return to class as directed by the Federal Government.
The Supervisory Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, on Thursday had directed the striking teachers to return to work on or before December 4 or face dismissal.

Yesterday it was made known that the ultimatum deadline had been shifted to Monday so the lecturers could participate in the burial of a former President of ASUU, Prof. Festus Iyayi on Saturday.
Wike also urged the authorities of all the nation’s public universities to open attendance registers for the returning workers.

Still on Tuesday, the protesting lecturers under the auspices of the Academic Staff Union of Universities vowed that the sack threat by the FG would not stop the lingering strike.

The LASU chapter chairman of the union Dr. Adekunle Idris, speaking with journalists after the congress, said they decided to continue the strike until the Federal Government met their demands.

The congress, he said, also resolved that no member of the union would sign the attendance register in the institution.

Commenting on the sack threat, he said the branch was not only committed to the industrial action but also supportive of the decision of the national body to press for proper funding of education.

His OOU counterpart, Dr. Nasir Adesola, said the union would not succumb to the threat by the Federal Government to sack the lecturers.


source:naijnews

ASUU Strike: FUTO Denies Firing Lecturers

The Public Relations Officer of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Chike Ezenwa, has denied that the school management sacked the striking lecturers of the university.
He denied the sack report via a telephone call to the Daily Trust reporter today in Owerri, the capital of Imo state.
The PRO had disclosed the management’s decision to sack the striking lecturers to newsmen in Owerri yesterday, following their refusal to comply with the federal government ultimatum to go back to class.
Ezenwa yesterday said that their positions have been advertised already for interested persons.


source: naijnews

READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/53529.html

ASUU STRIKE: "We no Longer Have Universities in Nigeria"

Lagos based lawyer and activist, Barrister Bamidele Aturu, yesterday, dismissed the Federal Government’s sack threat to striking university lecturers, saying that government has failed to appreciate the rot in the university system.
Rather, he said government should meet the demands of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
Aturu, who spoke at the 6th Annual Law and Social Development lecture and public presentation of a book, ‘Law and Practice of the National Industrial Court,”  at Lagos Airport Hotel, said it is “sad” that the Fededral Government has failed to appreciate the rot in the university system which ASUU wants corrected,” adding that members of ASUU would not be cowed by such threats.
Condemning the “resume or be sacked” order, Mr. Aturu said: “The truth of the matter is that we no longer have universities in Nigeria. This explains why many people among the ruling class have their children and wards in foreign universities.
“The demands of ASUU in my view are legitimate and patriotic. The government should do everything possible to meet those reasonable demands in order for our schools to be reopened as quickly as possible.”
He recalled attempts by previous military governments to cow ASUU which failed, and warned that the threat of the education minister will also fail.
The guest lecturer, Professor Sofiri Joab- Peterside of the Department of Sociology, Universtity of Port Harcourt, who spoke on ‘The Economy, the Rogues and the Law: The Development Conundrum,’  noted that, “the average Nigerian lives on less than one dollar a day. There are no roads, just as the public hospitals themselves are “dead” and the high education sector practically broken with  ASUU on strike for more than four months over the Federal Government’s unfulfilled agreement, while the culture of impunity has become an integral part of the norm of political appointees.”
Also, Barrister Aturu, who insisted that those responsible for the accident that killed Professor Festus Iyayi be brought to book, said, “Iyayi did not die in an accident, he was murdered, pure and simple.
“We reiterate our call for the driver of the escort vehicle that snuffed the life out of this noble champion of the oppressed to be fished out and prosecuted. They may have privatised the economy; we won’t let them privatise our lives.”
He also dismissed the on- going National Conference, saying that it will not achieve the objectives of the original proponents of the idea. Though, he spoke against the decision to boycott it, suggesting that progressive organisations should use the forum to state their views on the state of the nation.
Professor Sofiri Joab- Peterside, also a guest speaker lamented that Nigeria has been unable to make any remarkable development as a result of corruption


source:naijnews

READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/53448.html

ASUU strike: Dear FG, your one-week ultimatum won’t work,

At a time Nigerian students earnestly await the announcement of a truce between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities regarding the ongoing strike, the former has in its usual manner of show of unnecessary force, issued a one-week ultimatum to the striking lecturers to call off their action.

This writer predicted this latest development hours after President Goodluck Jonathan announced the rejig of the federal cabinet on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. My friends and I discussed the matter. During our chat, I averred that now that Nyesom Wike, ‘strongman’ of Ikwerre (and by large Rivers State) is now in charge of the Education Ministry, more wahala had landed.
There is no gainsaying that the Thursday morning matching order to ASUU might have been sponsored by the Minister. But such pronouncement is not what we wish for; indeed, it falls short of the desire and expectations of stakeholders, including parents, teachers, and even food sellers as well as other business owners on campuses.
It is sad that negotiations between both parties take one step forward and two or more backward. The dilly-dally started with Anyim Pius Anyim-led committee on negotiations with ASUU. When that failed to produce any result, government in a not well-thought out strategy, delegated Gabriel Suswam, the Governor of a Federating State (Benue) to lead talks with a body comprising thousands of lectures across the country
In a chat with a lecturer in a state-owned varsity, he stated that “Asking a governor, whose educational qualification is still in doubt, to chair the Needs Assessment Implementation Committee for Nigerian Universities, is not the way to go. Firstly, a high-powered FG official should have been called in. Secondly, I don’t think he has the capacity, charisma and zeal to do the job. Mark my words, Suswam will fail.” As prophesied, he failed.
Then we had the Namadi Sambo-led committee, which according to ASUU brought nothing new to the table. Only one meeting with the Vice President was enough turn-off for the union.
Finally, the president deemed it appropriate to wade into the FOUR months impasse. Too late the day if you ask me; a leader needs not wait that long to personally take charge of such burning national issue. After the marathon meeting, Mr. Jonathan presided, it was agreed that N220,000,000,000 would be injected into the universities system for a period of five years, i.e, the sum of N1.1trillion. A fair deal no doubt. In fact, most citizens say the fund if well utilized was enough to turn around the system. The Union agreed and requested the opening of an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria where the money will be kept and released at specified dates.
But rather than build on this, government has gone ahead to issue (in my view) an empty threat of one week ultimatum. It has also impressed on Vice-Chancellors to declare the jobs of the lecturers vacant if they do not return to classrooms by Wednesday, December 4 2013.
Let me add that I have been studying the body language of President Jonathan on this matter and below are some pointers which puts a bold question mark on his seriousness in resolving the deadlock.
Recall that at the beginning of the strike in July, he posited, directly or indirectly, that ASUU cannot hold him to ransom because the 2009 pact does not bear his signature. The comment is goof in its entirety because he was part of the government that reached the deal. Mr. Jonathan wants the North to support him in his quest to return to Aso Rock in 2015, yet he feels comfortable to wave off some resolutions and policies of their late son, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He shoots himself in the foot without knowing, whereas he has advisers and strategists on his payroll.
Recall that he had directly or indirectly, asserted that the impasse is being deliberately prolonged and influenced by Northerners and leaders of opposition party. This doesn’t fit to be counted as a genuine reason for his administration’s failure to convince the lecturers to resume.
Recall also that upon his return from London to Abuja from the 15th Meeting of the Honorary International Investors Council, he only commented on his trip, his health issue, the purchase of bulletpoof cars for Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah and of course, his meeting with the seven aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“I don’t think I will be able to hold any meeting, you know six hours flight is quite a distance and also following from my health challenges. I don’t know how soon, but we will be able to meet within the week,” he said.
“Politics is about discussion, we belong to the same political party, even people from different political parties engage in political discussion and political discussion is a continuous process, even during election, people discuss. So, we will continue to discuss.”
So much for politics and less for education; that is the state we have found ourselves. Our leader gives a time frame to meet with governors, keeps mum on a matter that involves those who impact knowledge on tomorrow’s leaders. What a shame!
ASUU Chairman, Nasir Isa Fagge and his team do not appear like the kind of persons that develop cold feet at the mention of deadlines. While I agree that the union should resume and continue negotiations, Nigerians must not forget that successive administrations made several promises and commitments, but failed to implement. We need to understand the plight of the lecturers; they are fighting a just course. Needless to say that sending our wards to tertiary institutions abroad will continue to harm our image and deplete wealth that should remain here and boost our economy.
The sooner the Federal Government and its officials realize that forceful tactics no longer work in resolving civil disputes, the better for the nation. The FG should be informed that it makes more sense to drag ASUU to court, instead of the ill-advised ultimatum. It has never worked, this case won’t be an exception.




source:premiumtimes

ASUU STRIKE: Mixed Reactions Trails Federal Government’s Threat PLUS See What Students Have To Say 29 November, 2013

The Federal Government has given ASUU 1 week ultimatum to call off the lingering strike that has been on since the 1st of July 2013 and failure to do so will result in the loss of their jobs.

READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/53197.html
Meanwhile the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Thursday described the threat by the federal government to sack lecturers if they don’t return to classroom as empty threat that could not hold water.

While some think this move by government will further aggravate the situation. A lecturer, unlike other workers, cannot be easily replaced.
Read some students opinion below
If the government thinks there are available graduates on ground that will be engaged to teach, who will take care of the post-graduate students? Government should stop dancing to the gallery and do what is right so that our universities will be re-opened.
Khalifa Shariff, Faculty of Law, BUK
I think what the Federal Government is trying to do is very wrong, because this is portraying to the world that Nigerian leaders do not even understand what “knowledge” is all about. Imagine how you can run university education without professors and doctorate degree holders. But ok fine, we the students are waiting to see our new lecturers and we hope Mr. President will be among the new recruit lecturers and we pray for him to pass the screening and interview.
Yahaya Shehu Mohammed, BUK
I believe what ASUU is demanding is neither too much nor unrealistic. So if the government wants to sack the lecturers, they should also expel us as we are solidly in support of the lecturer’s struggle for better education in this country. The government should just implement the 2009 agreement it entered with ASUU and stop playing with our future. We are tired.
Najibullahi Nuhu Abdullahi , BUK
What’s your take on the Federal Government’s Threat?


source:naij

READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/53197.html

Unijos Vice Chancellor urges ASUU to suspend strike

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jos, Hayward Mafuyai, on Tuesday appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to suspend its strike in the interest of the nation.
Mr. Mafuyai said this while exchanging views with journalists in Jos.
He said the university lecturers should consider the plight of their students by calling off their long-drawn-out strike.
“The fact of the matter is that the Federal Government has done well by agreeing to set aside billions of naira yearly for the rehabilitation and development of the nation’s universities.
“The ASUU officials and members should at least look at what the government has offered and call off the strike,” he said.
Mr. Mafuyai said that government had agreed to release N30 billion yearly for the rehabilitation and the maintenance of the nation’s universities.
He disclosed that government had also inaugurated the Needs’ Assessment Committee of the Nigerian Universities, with the view to solving the problems facing the universities.
“President Goodluck Jonathan has a listening ear; that is why the government has been negotiating, with a view to resolving the impasse between it and the union,”he said.
Mr. Mafuyai appealed to ASUU to reconsider its “hard stance.”
He said that the ASUU members, after receiving what was offered to them, could still continue negotiations with the government.
The vice chancellor said that he had a cordial relationship with the local branch of ASUU in his university.
He said that the university authorities were ready to provide a favourable working environment for the lecturers to operate without any fear of harassment.
ASUU has been on a nationwide strike since July 1.
(NAN)

ASUU: The Bigger Tragedy

The untimely demise of professor Festus Iyayi while on a selfless duty to put an end to the Fiscal toned Acdemic Staff Union of universities strike is a big tragedy to his family, friends, the union, his students and to the educational sector as a whole. But, the bigger tragedy is the tragedy of visceral arbitrariness, selfishness and maliciousness that the union has created from the loss of this educational role model. Postponing its NEC meeting indefinitely. Hanging the fate of thousands of university students on the back of a shared tragedy. For the over four months that this strike had lasted, though ambivalent and divided on the issue. Majority of students have given their support to the cause championed by the union even at their own detriment. They have held faith with the lecturers against the government despite majority of them not knowing half the reasons for the strike. Other than limited funding which the union poses as the major reason for the strike. Why then will the union not reciprocate the goodwill? Why will the union not put the students into consideration while making its decisions? It is right and humane for the union to mourn the death of the professor but why suspend the NEC meeting indefinitely? The union had raised students’ hopes about a possible suspension of the strike after its executives met with the president on 4th of November. Students were quite optimistic of the strike been called off as consultations were going on by the executives and its various units across the country. It was on one of such consultations that the union lost professor Iyayi in an accident in kogi state. The question this tragic loss poses is, should the death of our amiable professor work for the progress of why we lost him or against it? Must thousands of Nigerian students bare the brunt of the untimely death of a man who was trying to get us back to school? If our professor could speak to us again, will he approve the union executives keep schools under locks to atone for his untimely death? The 2012/2013 session was barely over its first semester in most universities when the strike began and if the strike is called off as soon as possible, a lot can still be achieved before 2013 ends. If the union was on consultations to inform it’s widely dispersed members on the positivity from the presidential meeting which could have ended the strike. That only means, the federal government has done its part and all now rest on the decisions of the union Members. So how justifiable is the indefinite postponement of the union’s NEC meeting ? How more insensitive can the union be? Riding on this tragedy to bring more pains to the more affected stakeholders? Coincidently, I was about to pen my opinion on lecturer impunity on campuses as an ignored bane to tertiary education development in Nigeria as against the picture the union has put forward to Nigerians this past months. Making it seem limited funding is the only problem that has limited the development of the sector. Did the union put parents and students into consideration while arbitrarily suspending the possibility of resumption till next year? Students who idly roam the streets and can make little or no positivity being out of school. Students whose educational itineraries have been altered. Parents who have to pay rents of empty and unoccupied hostels. Final year students who should have graduated and mobilized for the National Youth Service. Is the decision fair to other stakeholders? As much as I believe Professor Festus Iyayi should be mourned and eulogized as a hero of educational development. I don’t believe he will support the insensitivity of the ASUU executives. The sector and nation as a whole has suffered a tragedy from professor Iyayi’s death. The union shouldn’t make a bigger tragedy of keeping students at home longer than necessary in the guise of mourning him. It is exigent that the ASUU executives have a rethink of its initial visceral decision. A lot can still be achieved before the year runs to an end. May almighty God grant professor Iyayi’s family the fortitude to bare the loss. SOURCE:OMOJUWA

Anonymous Tipster Claims Festus Iyayi Was Shot By Policemen In Kogi's Governor Convoy

An anonymous tipster has confided in SaharaReporters that Festus Iyayi, a former president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), was actually shot by policemen in the convoy of the Kogi State Governor, Captain Idris Wada, prior to the road accident in which he supposedly died last week. The source claimed that the injuries found on the late writer’s chest were consistent with gunshot injuries and that a bullet did pierce his heart. One Dr. Paul Amodu of the Specialist Hospital in Lokoja had revealed that Professor Iyayi died after "something" pierced his chest, but he didn't specify what it was. SaharaReporters was first to reveal last week said the popular professor and writer died in a collision with a security vehicle in Governor Wada’s convoy. Sources at ASUU said they had dissuaded Iyayi's family from a “rushed” burial, as they suspected foul play. One of the sources recalled that another former president of ASUU, Dr. Mahmood Tukur, also died in suspicious circumstances on the Kaduna-Zaria highway, with the police claiming he died of an asthma attack because he ate pepper which, they claimed, triggered it. SaharaReporters spoke with Prof. Iyayi's son, Omole, regarding the latest information, but he said the family was unaware, and that they do not even have the autopsy performed yet. A press statement issued by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA)signed by its President Osahom Enabulele has previously called for a special inquiry into Professor Iyayi's death but the statement didn't say if the doctors found that Iyayi may been shot as alleged by the anonymous source. SOURCE:SAHARAREPORTER

ASUU UPDATE: NSCDC To Also Embarks On 7days Prayer and Fasting

Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on Thursday began seven days fasting and prayer for an end to the lingering Academic Staff of Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) strike. This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja and signed by the Public Relations Officer of the corps, Mr Emmanuel Okeh. The statement said that Dr Ade Abolurin, the Commandant General of the corps, directed the officers and personnel of the corps nationwide, to embark on the exercise. It said the corps embarked on the exercise to seek God’s intervention following the deadlock in the talks between the Federal Government and the striking university teachers aimed at resolving the issue. “Worried by the ongoing strike embarked upon by the ASUU, which has resulted in the shutdown of universities since July this year, NSCDC Commandant General has organised a special prayer for the nation. “ The CG has declared seven days fasting and prayers nationwide to seek an ultimate solution to the problem,’’ it said. The statement said the move was borne out of the desire by Nigerians to see an end to the strike. It quoted Abolurin, as noting that the inability of stakeholders to come to an agreement in resolving the four months old strike was an indication that divine intervention was the only solution to the problem. “While lauding the effort of the government and its unwavering commitment to end the impasse, Abolurin said the nation should not underestimate the power of prayers at critical moments. “We should not be ignorant of the devices of the devil whose mission is to steal, kill and destroy; but through prayer and fasting, the glory of this nation shall be sustained and the much needed success achieved,’’ the statement said. It said that stakeholders, including parents, guardians, government officials, the striking teachers, students, religious leaders and opinion leaders should pray for an end to the problem. The statement said that the continuous stay of students at home had made them vulnerable to negative vices which “portend danger to the future leaders’’. It also appealed to the National Union of Teacher (NUT) to rescind its decision to embark on a sympathy strike, saying that this would further plunge the education sector into an unnecessary and avoidable catastrophe. (NAN) source:vanguard

Today On Asuu: Postponed National Executive Council (NEC) meeting may hold on Friday

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may hold its postponed National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Friday to decide whether or not to suspend the indefinite strike it began since July 2.
A top official of ASUU, who preferred anonymity, disclosed this to Daily Independent in a telephone interview on Sunday.
He was, however, not certain if the NEC will still be held at the Bayero University, Kano where it was initially proposed to hold.
The leadership of the union postponed the scheduled Kano NEC meeting following the demise of one its key members, Festus Iyayi, who died last Tuesday in a ghastly motor accident on his way to Kano for the postponed NEC meeting.
The source noted that the union members are still grieved and are pre-occupied with the burial arrangement of the late Professor of Business Administration, who died along the Abuja-Lokoja highway in an accident caused by the convoy of Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada.
The source debunked speculations in the social media that ASUU has jettisoned its NEC indefinitely, saying the union postponed the NEC meeting as a mark of honour and respect for the late Iyayi.
According to him, all ASUU officials that were supposed to participate in the NEC meeting last week Wednesday had actually gathered at the Bayero University, Kano, but for the unfortunate accident which claimed the life of Iyayi and disrupted the agenda already set for the meeting.
Meanwhile, Supervisory Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, also at the weekend led a delegation of government on a condolence visit to the residence of the late academician in Benin City.
Wike assured that the Federal Government would diligently implement all the agreements it reached with ASUU in the course of the negotiations with President Goodluck Jonathan.
Those in the delegation of the minister include Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Julius Okojie, and some top officials of Federal Ministry of Education.
They also visited the injured ASUU National Welfare Officer, Ngozi Iloh, who is said to be responding to treatment at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin.
In a statement in Abuja on Sunday, the Minister’s Special Assistant (Media), Simeon Nwakaudu, said Wike solicited the permission of the family to allow the Federal Government participate in the burial ceremony of the former ASUU president.
“President Goodluck Jonathan and the entire administration are deeply pained by the sudden death of the former ASUU National President who played a key part in the negotiations between ASUU and the Federal Government.
“We recall the significant contributions of Professor Iyayi during the 13-hour negotiations between President Jonathan and ASUU, which led to a headway in the discussions.
“I want to assure the family that the ideals that the late scholar fought and died for will never be forgotten. The Federal Government will diligently implement the decisions reached in the course of negotiations with ASUU.
“The Federal Ministry of Education wishes to be a part of the burial of this erudite scholar and we seek the permission of the family to participate in the burial. I pray God to grant the family the strength to bear this unfortunate loss,” Wike was quoted to have said.
Oriabure Iyayi, son of the late ASUU president, was said to have thanked President Jonathan, the Minister of Education and all Nigerians for commiserating with the family at their moment of grief.
A relative of the deceased, Prof. Robert Ebiwele, informed the minister that the burial will hold between December 5 and 9.
He assured that the family would inform the Federal Ministry of Education on the burial arrangements.

Daily Independence

ASUU STRIKE: ESUT Dissociates Itself From Rumours.

Chairman of ASUU-ESUT, Prof. Gab Agu, in Enugu said they have been bought to the notice of an ongoing rumour that the school will be reopening on the 18th. Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) on Nov. 18 to open with or without ASUU.

In a statement he made to reporters, he said  “The academic staff of ESUT dissociates itself from the above announcement.

“While ASUU-ESUT mourns the demise of Prof. Festus Iyayi, a former President of ASUU, it awaits the directive of the NEC on the ongoing strike,” he added.