The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has received an appeal from the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Lagos Zone, asking for the reinstatement of five academics who were “unjustly dismissed” from Lagos State University, Ojo.
ASUU made the appeal on Tuesday at a demonstration in support of its members at LASU, citing the Governing Council’s exoneration of them.
At a press conference held prior to the march, the zone’s organiser, Prof. Adelaja Odukoya, said that the allegations against the lawful ASUU leaders at LASU had been known to the public for almost seven years.
The University of Lagos, Kwara State University, University of Ilorin, and Tai-Solarin University of Education were among the universities represented at the rally by ASUU affiliates.
“Dear Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Dr. Tony Dansu’s Contributions to Education are Invaluable, Reinstate Him and Others,” and “Let Justice Prevail” were among the posters carried by the union members.
Additional messages read, “Recall the Sacked ASUU-LASU Five,” and “LASU is a Beneficiary of ASUU Struggles, Recall Our Staff.” The demonstrators circled the Ojo campus in a nonviolent march.
Five ASUU-LASU executive members were fired by the previous Governing Council between September 2017 and September 2019 due to allegations made against them by the former vice-chancellor’s administration, Prof. Lanre Fagbohun.
Odukoya stated that, “In 2018, Drs. Tony Dansu, Adeolu Oyekan, and Oluwakemi Aboderin-Shonibare sought legal action to challenge trials initiated by their university, fearing illegal dismissal similar to what Drs. Isaac Oyewumi and Adebowale Adeyemi-Suenu experienced in 2017.
“The court ruled that the university had no authority to act against union officers under the Freedom of Information Act and other laws. However, the court refrained from judicial review, as no harm had yet occurred, but urged both parties to adhere to legal protocols.”
The university nevertheless carried out the proceedings and fired the ASUU-LASU leaders in spite of this.
Odukoya clarified that following Fagbohun’s administration, the fired union leaders pursued legal action with the backing of ASUU’s national leadership, which also placed LASU under sanctions.
He went on to say that the university’s Governing Council reviewed the dismissals after the current Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, took office. On February 23, 2022, the Council ordered the immediate reinstatement of the five ASUU officers after reviewing the report from its Committee on Grievances and determining the dismissals were unfair.
Odukoya emphasised that the implementation was purportedly stopped in response to orders from the Alausa state secretariat, pending the conclusion of a Visitation Panel that finished its report In 2022.
He said, “Since then, ASUU has made several appeals to Governor Sanwo-Olu, the Visitor to LASU, to release the White Paper from the visitation report and lift the unjust embargo on the reinstatement of the wrongfully dismissed comrades, as exonerated by the Governing Council.
“Unfortunately, the governor has remained indifferent. Key questions now arise: What are the ASUU leaders’ offences against Governor Sanwo-Olu, particularly at LASU? Whose interests is the governor protecting by preventing these individuals from returning to their posts?
“How does this unjust denial of livelihood for ASUU-LASU leaders align with the governor’s labour-friendly stance? Even if the White Paper is relevant to their reinstatement, why has the governor failed to release it two years after the Visitation Panel’s report?
“Is the Visitor attempting to shield the actions of certain individuals implicated in the report? Isn’t it unjust to block the Governing Council’s decision while Lanre Fagbohun has quietly returned to LASU without the panel’s verdict on his tenure?”
