The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has warned that the foot-dragging by the federal government in implementing the new Memorandum of Understanding MOU, reached with it could breed acrimony within the university system.
The national treasurer of ASUU, Ademola Aremu, and chairman of University of Ibadan branch of the union, Olusegun Ajiboye, said this at ASUU/press parley in Ibadan on Sunday.
Aremu said it was disturbing that in spite of signing an MOU and calling off the strike, allocation of funds was yet to be implemented for the needs assessment project of Nigerian universities.
“The federal government ought to have commenced the process of depositing an additional N55 billion for the first quarter as agreed in the MOU with President Jonathan,” he said.
Ajiboye added that ASUU was tired of earmarking of the funds for projects without visible projects executed.
The spokesman also decried the sack of 90 staff members of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, CRIN, Ibadan and called on the government and the masses to rise against what it called the “intimidation of the oppressed” in the institution.
Ajiboye also urged the director general of CRIN, Malachi Akoroda, to tread softly and be democratic in steering the affairs of CRIN.
Employees of CRIN in October last year wrote to the federal government over the crisis that had engulfed the institute since July, accusing the institute’s governing board chairman, Francis Fadaunsi, of threatening the workers and reiterating the call for Akoroda to be removed for lack of managerial skill and alleged mismanagement of N154million research grants.