Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has described state-owned universities as quacks.
Osodeke, who appeared on Arise Television on Friday morning, was reacting to the resolve of some of the state universities to call off the strike and return to lectures.
He said that the discussion should be about the federal universities, such as the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN; University of Ibadan, University of Maiduguri, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, among others, which according to him are the real universities in the country.
The professor insisted that all those other universities have never been part of ASUU and are not counted among the striking ones.
“Yobe State, go and check, just like Kaduna state university, what’s happening there? Please don’t set those examples, they’re irrelevant.
“Talk about the issue, is Ibadan on strike? Is UNN on strike? Is ABU on strike? Is BUK on strike? Is Maiduguri and Lagos on strike?
“Talk about important universities not those quacks. They’re not part of our strike. Set the ones that are members of our strike,” he said.
ASUU has been on strike since February 14 this year over improved welfare, and revitalisation of public universities, among others.
One of the issues being raised by the academics is the non-payment of university revitalisation funds, amounting to about N1.1 trillion, as all efforts by the government to make the union end the strike have been unsuccessful.
The government maintains it has no money to meet the lecturers’ demands.