ASUU President Piwuna Vows to Keep Fighting for University Freedom
The new national leader of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Christopher Piwuna, has promised to continue the fight for university autonomy in Nigeria.
While speaking at an event held by the ASUU branch of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Prof. Piwuna said his administration will not back down from asking the government to respect the independence of Nigerian universities.
He said: “I will continue the demand for university autonomy, academic freedom, and better conditions for lecturers. Strike is a global tool used when governments refuse to honour agreements. We don’t want to go on strike, but we won’t ignore our rights either.”
His statement came during a special event organized in honour of his predecessor, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke.
At the same event, the ASUU Chairperson of MOUAU, Chike Ugwuene, praised Prof. Osodeke for his contributions to education and said that the relationship between ASUU and the university management is now peaceful. “We are enjoying cooperation with the management. But if anything goes wrong, we will still demand our rights,” she said.
Also present was the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academics), Professor Nneoma Obasi, who represented the university’s Vice Chancellor. She said the university is proud of Prof. Osodeke’s hard work during his time as ASUU President.
In his own remarks, Prof. Osodeke looked back at the struggles during his time leading the union. He blamed the poor treatment of lecturers by the previous government as the reason many academics left Nigeria for countries like the US, UK, and Saudi Arabia.
He stated : “During former President Buhari’s administration and under Minister Chris Ngige, we faced many challenges. Their actions could have collapsed our education system, but ASUU stood strong.”
Prof. Osodeke added that ASUU was able to remove universities from the IPPIS system and ensure that some professors now retire with full pay. He also argued that public universities still offer better education than private ones, noting that 95% of university students in Nigeria attend public schools.
The event was also attended by the Pro-Chancellor of MOUAU – Felix Edeh, who represented President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
