A student of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti (FUOYE), who was asthmatic, lost his life due to the ongoing industrial action by the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), officials have said.
The management of the university, led by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Tajudeen Opoola, alongside other top principal officers, disclosed this on Tuesday while addressing journalists.
Mr Opoola said that the asthmatic student died because he could not immediately access medical care, as the university had been put under lock and key.
The management accused SSANU of complicity in the total shutdown of activities in the institution, noting that some universities did not shut down like FUOYE.
The deputy vice-chancellor warned that the management would not fold its arms and allow the breakdown of law and order under the guise of strike action.
“We lost a student who had asthma this morning because he could not be taken to our clinic. The facility is under lock and key. It is true that students are on holiday, but not all of them live on campus. It would have been easier for the student to be rushed to our clinic for urgent treatment, but even our university gate was locked.
“Just this morning, I was at the Ekiti State University (EKSU), and the administrative block was open. People are going about their normal duties; you may go there to confirm. I am using EKSU as an example because it is the closest as far as this environment is concerned. In EKSU today, the clinic is functioning. Total or comprehensive strike is not going on there.
“But the same leadership of EKSU SSANU went on air yesterday to incite the public, and even led some hoodlums to invade and occupy our institution based on a false narrative that he was fed with by the chairman, SSANU, FUOYE chapter,” Mr Opoola said.
“Our own chairman was the one who gave false information to the national president. Since he gave the impression that he had been beaten and harassed, the national president allegedly directed the leadership of their unions in Ondo, Osun and Kwara to proceed to FUOYE to rescue the chairman and occupy and enforce total shutdown.
“As a university, we are established by law and we have our own autonomy. We are not going to fold our arms and allow anybody in whatever guise to come and occupy our place,” he added.
But reacting to the allegation, the chairman of SSANU, FUOYE chapter, Oluwaseun Faleye, accused the vice-chancellor, Sunday Fasina, of intimidating the leadership of the union because they refused to grant the school concession.
“You are aware of the national directive of our union that all branches should embark on a seven-day strike, beginning from 18 March.
“We have evidence of our correspondence with the management notifying them of the strike. But they felt they could impose concessions on us that we must give concessions and not follow the national directive,” he said.
Mr Fasina said that the school management had, last week Friday, invited the SSANU leadership to a meeting, asking for concessions.
He said the management sent a written letter, soliciting concessions to exempt the health centre and some other facilities.
He added that the requests were declined since the circular from the national leadership of the union had warned against granting such concessions.
Following the decline of the management’s requests, the SSANU chairman said they got information that the vice-chancellor made moves to use security operatives to intimidate its members.
“Between Wednesday and Friday last week, the DSS Director and the Commissioner of Police invited us, and we felt that those moves were acts of intimidation just because we were going to fully comply with a national strike. We felt we were not safe.
“Interestingly, on getting to the school gate, we met armed civil defence officers, and I was assaulted. So, we want to put it on record that it is the management that is using the security agencies to intimidate us for complying with a national directive on industrial action,” Mr Fasina said.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the national leadership of SSANU and NASU had declared a seven-day warning strike, which began on Monday, across the country.
They called the action following the federal government’s decision to exclude them from the payment of withheld salaries. The government commenced the payment for members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in February.
Their salaries were withheld when the administration of former President Muhammad Buhari invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy after the unions embarked on strike in 2022.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the federal government has appealed to SSANU and NASU to call off the strike and allow for more negotiations on their grievances.
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