Return to classes, Oyo appeals to LAUTECH lecturers

• VC decries poor funding of research by FG

The Oyo State government has appealed to the striking lecturers of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso to resume classes in honour of the agreement it had with the owner-states.

LAUTECH chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) however warned that it would continue the industrial action until its demands are met by the owners of the institution.

However, the Special Adviser to Oyo State Governor on Youths and Sports, Afeez Bolaji Repete told The Guardian yesterday that the owner-states had an agreement with the lecturers that they would resume work as soon as two months salaries are paid to them as part of the emergency solution to the perennial crisis.

Repete, who graduated from the institution, added that the report of the panel set up by the owners is been studied at the moment, explaining that the latest demands by the lecturers were not part of the original agreement.

According to him: “They collected two months salaries, which was part of the agreement between the two parties so that they can resume lectures. The owners are also working on the commitment letter they are demanding.”

Reacting to the appeal to end the strike, the lecturers advised the state government to be honest in its pronouncements.In a statement titled “How not to prolong the crisis in LAUTECH,” the Chairman and Secretary of the institution’s branch of ASUU, Dr. Bolaji Olaniran and Toyin Abegunrin, urged the government to stop misinforming the public on the crisis.

Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor, University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Musbau Adewumi Akanji has decried the inadequate funding of research works and institutions by the Federal Government.

Akanji expressed this view while speaking with journalists ahead of the 26th convocation and 34th founders’ day celebration of the institution, which holds tomorrow.

“Funding of research is very problematic. The money for research comes from extra-governmental agencies like Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), World Bank is also assisting, but it is competitive,” he stated.