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There are indications that academic activities in Nigeria’s public universities may be grounded again as the academic staff union of universities, ASUU has rejected a list of governing board members recently approved by the federal government.
President of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, insists the list is illegal and has not addressed the reason it issued a two-week strike notice.
On Friday, May 17, 2024, the federal Ministry of Education published a list of appointees as members to the governing boards of 111 federal institutions.
But in a swift reaction, Professor Osodeke told aitonline that the list released is unacceptable.
The ASUU president insists that what the union is asking for is the reinstatement of boards it claimed were illegally dissolved before the expiration of their tenure.
He noted that the union will reconvene on Monday, May 27, to assess the situation for its next line of action.
In June 2023, President Bola Tinubu ordered the dissolution of the boards of all federal tertiary institutions, a move that did not go down well with the University teachers, forcing institutions such as the University of Abuja and a few others to embark on strike.
The universities governing boards are mandated by law to sit over the election of a new Vice Chancellor and not the function of either the outgoing Vice Chancellor or the Minister of Education.
In the meantime, the Acting Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Chris Maiyaki has appealed to the national body of ASUU to sheath its sword in the interest of their students.
