Varsity don chides colleagues on ASUU strikes

The National President of Literary Society of Nigeria (LSN), Dr. Emmanuel Adeleke, has described as sabotage, for any Nigerian university to back out of strike declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU).

Adeleke, of the Department of English and Literature, University of Benin, who spoke yesterday, at the sideline of the 2019 yearly Congress of the LSN in Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, justified all the previous ASUU strike actions, noting that but for the union, the nation’s educational system would have collapsed.

The conference was organised for the outgoing Vice Chancellor of KWASU, Prof. AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, who is also a Fellow of the association.

According to Adeleke: “In reality, ASUU would not embark on any strike unless it is pushed to the wall.

“However, many ASUU branches that often back out of strike actions or break up the strike are a disgrace to the academic world. It is ironical to say that when the dividends fought for have become a reality, they are the very first set to come for such…”

Na’Allah urged academics to live up to expectations, as leaders in their own rights, saddled with the responsibilities of driving policies and directions for the government.

In her keynote address, Prof. Grace Eche Okereke of University of Benin, described relationship between literature, leadership and nation building as a reflection of the present socio-political and economic situations in many African democratic nations.