The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, has vowed that they will do everything humanly possible to protect university autonomy, even with the last drop of their blood.
Prof Ogunyemi disclosed this in a press statement titled “On President Buhari’s No IPPIS, No Salary” which was made available to newsmen in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
According to the statement, Ogunyemi explains that the directive was meant for civil servants and not university lecturers, claiming that ASUU has spent millions of naira to develop the UTAS, which has been presented to the Federal Ministry of Education.
The ASUU president also revealed that on January 9, 2020, they reached an understanding with President Muhammadu Buhari, to develop the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), which will be sensitive to the operations of the university system, accommodate peculiarities and respect autonomy.
It reads further: “We are aware of the antics of bureaucrats, especially in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, aimed at bringing universities under their control. ASUU will not fold its arms and watch the gains we made on the autonomy of Nigerian universities slip by.
“It took us several years of continuous struggle during the military to get here. So, let nobody hide under the name of President Muhammadu Buhari to attack the autonomy of public universities because Nigerian scholars are prepared to resist it to the last drop of their blood.”
