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By Madu Obi
THE Owerri zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has protested the alleged victimization suffered by its members across the country.
The ASUU Owerri Zone is made up Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Federal University of Technology Owerri, Imo State University and Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State.
The Zonal Coordinator of ASUU Owerri Zone, Professor Dennis Aribodor said in Awka on Tuesday that the protest coincides with the first edition of victimized lecturers day in Nigeria by ASUU.
As part of the activities marking the day, Aribodor said ASUU will also hold a solidarity rally and other activities to draw attention to the suffering of the victims and call for a stop to such ugly actions.
The statement by the ASUU coordinator said: "The victimization suffered by our members range from dismissal from service, suspension from duty and statutory meetings, denial of promotion, deliberate seizure of salaries, nonpayment of promotion arrears, non remittance of third party deductions to stifling of union activities.
These our members are persecuted for their commitment to discharge their intellectual responsibility by seeking the truth, finding the truth, teaching the truth and defending the truth.
The universities where some of our members are suffering victimization include Lagos State University (LASU), Kogi State University (KSU), Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Ambrose Ali University Ekpoma (AAUE) Edo State, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) Anambra State and Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Imo State.
We are disheartened by the deliberate reluctance of the respective university administrations, governing councils and visitors of the stated universities to halt the spiraling victimization of academic staff for standing for truth. ASUU is particularly disturbed at the seeming travesty of justice in the judgment delivered against our members at the Kogi State University, Anyigba, after seven odd years of waiting!
We are also worried by the extended period of court proceedings in respect of our colleagues illegally sacked at Lagos State University for upward of five years! Without doubt, the undue elongation of court proceedings in matters relating to the livelihoods of our affected members has created untold hardship not just for those so affected but also for their numerous dependents.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
Again, we are deeply disappointed with the refusal of the Lagos State government to release the white paper on the visitation panel to LASU more than two years after the exercise. The seeming conspiracy of silence on this matter is unbecoming of a democratically elected government.
We therefore call on the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to redeem his pledge to do the right thing at LASU and ensure the recall of our unjustly sacked colleagues.
ASUU is also dissatisfied with developments at EBSU where, rather than implement the court judgement and reinstate our sacked colleague, the chairperson of the branch, the University prefers to chase shadows by appealing the judgement.
While appreciating the intervention of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Ebonyi State, and the efforts of the visitor to the University (the governor of Ebonyi State), we urge him to urgently conclude the healing process by directing the governing council and university administration to obey the judgement of the Industrial Court, recall suspended lecturers and halt the appeal process as it is wasteful of public fund.
The ASUU Owerri Zone urges other state universities and authorities in FUTO where our members are being persecuted to take decisive steps to resolve all lingering matters to give their universities a breath of fresh air."
He called on university authorities and visitors to state universities to take special interest in the application of the laws governing their respective institutions and ensure that tyrannical tendencies of certain Vice-Chancellors were curbed.
"The ideals of a university should always be upheld so that universities can play the expected roles in development of the society", Aribodor said.
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