IPPIS: ASUU Vows To Protect University Autonomy With Their Last Blood

Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, in a statement released on Friday vowed that they will protect the autonomy of universities with their last drop of blood.

The ASUU President stated this in a statement released in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The statement was titled “On President Buhari’s No IPPIS, No Salary” and Ogunyemi noted that the statement of the President was targeted towards the civil servants and not lecturers.

He disclosed that the union on January 9, 2020, agreed with President Muhammadu Buhari, to develop the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), which will be sensitive to the operations of the university system, accommodate peculiarities and respect autonomy.

He further stated that the Union has spent millions of naira to develop the UTAS, which has been presented to the Federal Ministry of Education.

“We are aware of the antics of bureaucrats, especially in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, aimed at bringing universities under their control. ASUU will not fold its arms and watch the gains we made on the autonomy of Nigerian universities slip by.”

“It took us several years of continuous struggle during the military to get here. So, let nobody hide under the name of President Muhammadu Buhari to attack the autonomy of public universities because Nigerian scholars are prepared to resist it to the last drop of their blood,” the statement read in part.