By Ayodele Oni
The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Federal Universities in Nigeria, has welcomed members of SSANU and NASU back to campus after calling off their six months old strike but declared that Universities can’t operate without the active presence of the Academic staff.
According to the Chairman of the Committee, Prof Sulyman Abdulkareem, Universities, primarily, anywhere in the world are places to teach students and it is only the teachers who can perform such roles effectively and to get them on board is not a daydream.
Prof Abudulkareem, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), made the remark while reacting to resumption by members of the two unions, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non- Academic Staff Union (NASU).
He said even though both SSANU and NASU had directed their members to resume work on Wednesday, no tangible activities would take place in the universities if the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is still on strike and the students are at home.
He said ASUU members are so important that it is impossible to replace them if anybody is thinking in that direction.
“No right-thinking government would even think along that line as university lecturers are not unskilled workers but professionals in various fields.
He asked rhetorically where would government source for their replacement and also get people that will match their levels of performance. “It is simply unthinkable.”
He explained that there was never a time during the strike that the Federal Government directed the vice-chancellors to reopen schools.
Such a directive, he said, can only be passed through the National Universities Commission (NUC), but nothing of such had come from any quarter so far.
Prof Abdulkareem pointed out that even at that, universities are not closed down; it is only that the lecturers are on strike and that such kind of directive for VCs to reopen schools would not solve any problem if they remain off work.
He, however, said what Nigerians should do now was to pray and be hopeful that both the Federal Government and ASUU would reach a compromise without further delay for activities to bounce back on campuses.
