On Wednesday, employees of Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, Ondo State, staged a protest against the alleged dismissal of over 35 of their colleagues by the school’s governing council.
The affected workers received their termination letters on Tuesday, causing panic among the campus community of this state government-owned institution.
The protesting workers, in an act of solidarity, barricaded the school’s main gate, preventing entry and exit, and voiced their grievances through various chants and songs.
The governing council of the institution approved the dismissal of the workers; however, the protesters objected to this decision, arguing that the sacked employees were hired legitimately, received appointment letters, completed all necessary documentation, and had been working at the school for over six months.
They pledged to persistently disrupt both academic and non-academic operations within the campus until the management reversed its decision.
Addressing the situation, Mr. Dayo Temola, the chairman of the OAUSTECH chapter of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the chairman of the Joint Action Committee of the institution, expressed that the grounds for dismissing the affected workers were unacceptable and would not be tolerated or acknowledged.
He said, “We woke to the shocking news that over twenty-two members of staff has been sacked as a result of the university governing council held yesterday, of June 2023. “It is trite to say that when this news had earlier filtered, it was debunked by university management and council until yesterday (Tuesday)”.
“We, therefore, reiterate that the basis for justification of these mass sacks by the Council is not tenable and will neither be tolerated nor accepted. The unions of SSANU, NASU, and NAAT hereby reject this mass sack and demand that the mass sack be reversed with immediate effect.
“The Ondo State Government should, as a matter of urgency, set up a visitation panel in line with the university laws.”
In the same vein, his Academic Staff Union of Universities counterpart in the institution, Dr. Rotimi Olorunsola, said the protest would not stop until the council reversed itself on the dismissal of the workers.
“We have given the council an ultimatum that unless they reverse the decision they make by sacking our members, we cannot guarantee industrial harmony. Some of our members that were employed were our first-class graduates, and we cannot afford to throw away our first-class graduates because we taught them.
“Most universities have the culture of retaining their first-class products. We also resolved that if the council is having an issue with the management, they should resolve it; they should not come and bounce back on our members. As a matter of fact, the appointment was approved by the former council. They were given a letter in March 2022, but they resumed in October because there was an ASUU strike”.
“The affected staff have contributed to the progress of the university for the last year, so there is no point sending them out of the system, we need them. We are not giving them an ultimatum until they reverse the case, the doors of the university remain locked. Even the 100-level examination that is coming up next Monday will not hold. There will be no examination and lecture.”
