The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has described the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a party of vagabonds, adding that the former national chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande is the grandfather of half-baked government for accusing striking lecturers of producing vagabonds and unemployable graduates.

The union said it was unfortunate that a supposed leader of Akande’s status could render a statement with warped logic.

Chief Bisi Akande had condemned the strike embarked upon by ASUU in Oke Ila Orangun where he went to commission one storey classroom donated to Abolarin college recently.

He was reported to have said the union is destroying the country with demands that are not genuine.

While reacting, the ASUU chairman, University of Ibadan, Dr. Deji Omole, said it was shameful that Chief Bisi Akande by age and previous offices held in the country before now is qualified to be called an elder statesman.

Omole stated that Akande’s recent outburst against the ongoing patriotic struggle by ASUU to save public university education in Nigeria clearly exposed him that he is just an elder only by age but not a statesman.

“The same Bisi Akande who himself was a teacher during the free education programme of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo sacked hundreds of teachers and left Osun state education in tatters now claims to value quality graduates while shying away from adequate investment in education.

“It is on record that during Akande’s time as governor all the higher institutions in Osun State were closed down due to the anti-masses policy of his administration on education.

“It is even self-indicting for the leader of a ruling party who is destroying public education with chronic underfunding of the existing institution but busy itself to mushrooming of new universities without any funding plan to still be talking in public. The budget for education in the current year was wickedly cut down to seven percent to demonstrate their hatred for public funded education,” Dr. Omole said.

According to him, ASUU is not government that promised Nigerian youths gainful employment like the ruling party did and so “could not be blamed for the failure of the clueless government to establish industries.”

The ASUU boss said it was because of the likes of Akande who is interested in killing public education to allow for their children and grandchildren to dominate and oppress the children of the masses that they go on strike.

•Sourced from a Daily Trust report

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