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FUTA Management Reinstates Suspended Protesting Unionists

December 6, 2016

The three reinstated union leaders are: Comrade Dele Durojaiye of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU); Comrade Bayo Aladerotohun of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU); and Comrade Omoraka Emmanuel of the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).

The management of the crisis-ridden Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) in Ondo State on Tuesday reinstated the three protesting union leaders and 20 other members of staff of the institution who were deliberately suspended for disrupting the academic activists of the school with their continued protest. 

The three reinstated union leaders are: Comrade Dele Durojaiye of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU); Comrade Bayo Aladerotohun of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU); and Comrade Omoraka Emmanuel of the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).

Adegbenro Adebanjo, the Head of Information Unit of the institution, disclosed the latest news of the reinstatement of the unionists in a statement issued in Akure, the state capital.

Mr. Adebanjo, in the statement obtained by SaharaReporters, said the protesting union leaders have been asked to resume academic work on campus immediately. 

He disclosed that the management of the Federal University of Technology Akure had already setup a committee that would look into the feud between the unionists and the Vice Chancellor. 

The unionists were accused of interrupting the university academic activities and municipal services with their protest that had led to the total shut down of the institution after several pleas by the management on the union leaders to sheathe their swords and allow peace to reign on the crisis-ridden campus.

An underground investigation carried out by SaharaReporters showed that powerful sources from the presidency pressured the governing board of the institution to immediately recall the suspended protesting union leaders to their duty posts.

It was also reliably gathered that the registrar of the institution, Modupe Ajayi, wrote and issued the reinstatement letter asking the unionists to resume for their academic duty post.

“FUTA has formally carried out the decision of the Governing Council ordering the lifting of the suspension of 23 staff including three union leaders who were recently placed on indefinite suspension.

“The Council decided that the union leaders and other staff suspended should be recalled by the university management and that members of the union should resume work immediately.

“Accordingly, I write on behalf of the Governing Council to recall you and other members of the union who were suspended” a section of the letter read.

Our correspondent learnt that the copies of the reinstated letter have been forwarded to the offices of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja.

The union leaders have been calling for the immediate removal of the embattled Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Adebiyi Daramola, following his involvement in the financial misappropriation of the school treasury.

The unionists' action has further sparked controversies among the management and the staff of the school, which forced the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to invite the embattled Vice Chancellor for question over his role in the financial mess. 

The protesting staff union members earlier petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, to investigate Professor Daramola and the activities of officers in the Ondo State Police Command over the current crisis rocking the institution. 

The unionists copied President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami in the petition, which was exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters. 

In the document, the union leaders explained how a Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) member, Mr. Abiodun Atunbi, was nearly crushed to death with a vehicle of the Vice Chancellor during a meeting of the staff on the main campus of the school. 

The petitioners further disclosed how the police in Ondo state were invited into the case and arrested the embattled Vice chancellor, but he was later set free with a move to kill the case. 

They have, however, claimed that their life is no longer safe in the hands of Prof. Daramola who has been victimizing their members for protesting against his continued stay in office as the Vice Chancellor of the institution.

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