Charles Ogwo
The stalement between Ebonyi State Government and the Ebonyi State University’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU) seems not to be over yet as the meeting between both parties was said to have ended in a deadlock.
It will recalled that Ebonyi State University had since eight months ago been rocked with crisis, and most importantly engulfed by strike, resulting from unpaid five months salaries to lecturers.
Professor Emmanuel Osadeke, National Vice President, (ASUU) Academic, said it is unlawful for the Ebonyi State University to be without a governing council.
Addressing the public after the meeting held at the new Government House, Abakaliki, he said that instead of issues to be discussed, issues bordering on personalities took the centre stage.
“We came here because of the shortcomings affecting our members in the Ebonyi Stae University and we believe that since the university does not have Governing Council that we could relate, we decided we should meet with the visitor.
“Governing Council was dissolved two months ago and has not been reconstituted and the law did not envisage that it should be, and that is the only reason we came to see the visitor of the school since there no Governing Council.
“We are not smiling because the issues we raised which are the minor issue; the issue of personality and persons became issues rather than issues affecting the university and that is why the meeting ended in deadlock”, he stated.
Osadeke further stated that the ASUU chapter of the school are not happy because the issue the raised was not attended to. And that the governor rather concentrated his energy on minor issue of personality leaving the main purpose they came for, which is the problems facing Ebonyi State University, stressing that’s why the meeting ended in deadlock.
“Instead of talking about the problems facing the university, the visitor concentrated on calling the ASUU chairman, a small boy. And that he cannot relate with our chairman here and that’s why the meeting ended in deadlock. We will meet with the congress tomorrow and they will take their decision, and then we will meet with the national and they will take their decision.
Osadeke reiterated that it was uncalled for the governor to pick on the ASUU chairman in the manner he did.
“The threat on the Ebonyi ASUU chairman Mr. Ikechukwu Igwenyi, was repeated by the governor and that if anything goes wrong, he (Igwenyi) will be held responsible” he stated.
Dr Onyebuchi Chima, the State Commissioner of Education, reacting to the poported threat by the governor, however, explained that nobody was threatened in the cause of the meeting as ASUU was not factual in its presentation.
“I will say what happened today is a show of unpreparedness on the part ASUU and the people that came. The information that they were fed with is fake. Let it be on record that before they came not even the Ministry of Education was aware of their coming, not the SSA on High Education, not even the University. You don’t go to the visitor first without first of all finding out issues at least they say information is power but here they do not have information.
“The information is malicious and as a state and as a growing state we must defend ourselves. The university of Ebonyi State belongs to Ebonyians, no other people owns the state more than Ebonyians.
The Governor is working hard to develop all sectors of Ebonyi state including Education where am heading “Of course you all are aware of 2021 budgets is the highest and Education have the highest abut 90.5%. So we are doing our best to develop our education from the lowest level to university education. So no one should teach us what we know.
We fought for the creation of this state through the few that were enlightened in education, so we know what education can do for this state. We know where we started and where we going to.
“And today I can assure you that His Excellency demonstrated a high level of intelligence and as an educated consultant Engineer in Education of this state and as well as its economic and social development
“There is no backing out, what am saying is that today meeting as far as being involved the people that came were not prepared. As a lawyer before you go to court you must get your facts right and your evidence correct, so am sure they will go back to their fact rights before they come back to the visitor
“There is no threat of any kind and I don’t know anybody coming out of this place not smiling. There is no threat, this is the centre of peace in Ebonyi state, in fact, this is the office of the Governor of Ebonyi state”, he explained
China went on to say, this is not the place you feel unsecured and anybody that says so lacks the capacity to negotiate. In negotiation, he stated that one usually will have points that are not going his/her way and your ability to condole those points that are not going your way do not mean threat.
The Commissioner called on Ebonyi State University Chapter of ASUU to go back and get the facts right from the university before coming to the visitor of the University.
