Lecturers warns pain state governor over admission stoppage

The Council of Academic Staff Unions of Osun
State-owned Tertiary Institutions has asked Governor
Rauf Aregbesola to rescind his order directing the
managements of the four tertiary institutions in the
state to stop admission of students for the
2015/2016 academic session.
The union, in a letter written to the governor, said the
managements of the Osun State Polytechnic in Iree
and Esa Oke as well as the colleges of education in
Ilesa and Ila Orangun had stopped admissions of
students for the 2015/2016 academic session.
The lecturers’ union gave the government a 14-day
ultimatum within which to withdraw the directive or
be ready for a fresh industrial action.
The letter partly read, “The managements of the
state-owned colleges of education (Ilesa and Ila-
Orangun) and polytechnics (Iree and Esa-Oke)
respectively have put the admission of students for
the 2015/2016 academic session on hold under the
guise of complying with a directive from the state
government that admission must not be conducted
in the next two years.
“Consequently, we are using this medium to
demand that the government should come out clean
on this issue and withdraw any directive stopping
the admission within the next fourteen (14) days to
prevent industrial crisis in the sector.”
The union described the alleged stoppage of
admission as an attempt by the state government
to stop admission into the schools, saying the
action would eventually throw its members and
other workers out of job.
It also said the stoppage of admission would affect
the institutions’ reputation and cause litigation
because the institutions had already advertised for
the admission and collected application fees from
prospective students.
“It will leave the large number of students under the
preliminary programmes stranded as their chance of
transition to Year 1 class is so abruptly nullified.
“It will open wide room for suspicion and
speculation of clandestine move by government to
scrap the institutions through the back-door and
thus throw members of staff out of job,” the union
added.
But the Consultant to the State Government on
Information, Mr. Sunday Akere, when contacted said
he was not aware of such a directive.
He said, “There was a meeting between the
governor and the chairmen of the four institutions
last Wednesday. I cannot say what the outcome of
their meeting is but I will know that by tomorrow.”