The Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU, LAUTECH Chapter has described the response of the government of Osun to their demands for outstanding salaries as a statement that is repleted with outright lies, deceptive assemblage of figures with a propagandist mind-set.
ASUU in a press release signed by its chairman Dr Abiodun Olaniran and secretary, Dr Toyin Abegunrin said the academics union is saddened and shocked that this innocent and legitimate demand that our emolument be paid will attract such odium from the government to the extent that the entire body of academics in the institution will be whimsically dismissed as “misguided”.
Below is the the full text of the press release
ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF UNIVERSITIES
LADOKE AKINTOLA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY BRANCH
OGBOMOSO
Press Release
OSUN’S CASTLE OF LIES OVER UNPAID SALARIES IN LAUTECH
When a man assails the dancing arena in ragged vestment under the cover of the night and thinks that the dawn will never come, that is the apex of grand delusion. This brings to mind, the sorry parable of the unfortunate mother who has just lost one of her set of twins to the cruel hand of infantile death but still deludes herself that it has surely gone to the market to procure a piece of brocade.
The above are the sorry summaries of the Osun State’s self-deceptive stance over the LAUTECH project as reflected in a statement which was pushed out by the SSG as a response to ASUU’s legitimate demand that the state of Osun should live up to its statutory responsibility of paying our August and September salaries as Oyo state has already discharged its own aspect of that duty in the first half of the year.
ASUU LAUTECH is saddened and shocked that this innocent and legitimate demand that our emolument be paid will attract such odium from the government to the extent that the entire body of academics in the institution will be whimsically dismissed as “misguided”. The statement is replete with outright lies, deceptive assemblage of figures with a propagandist mind-set.
Our Union is compelled to observe that, when lying and cheap propaganda is elevated to the status of art of governance, the society is the casualty. When this happens, let the hapless masses run for cover! Accumulating salary arrears is akin to treating oneself to a sumptuous meal procured on credit, when the food vendor comes calling for the settlement of the debt, he becomes an instant irritant. But is it not in the wisdom of our elders that the day a debtor beats up his/her creditor, even if it means pawning his most prised earthly possession, is the appointed days for the liquidation of the debt. Now that ASUU has been insulted and called names for reminding Osun state that the labourer deserves his wages, it must be ready to pay. To insult us and still hold on to our wages, then, the government of Osun should be ready to watch how pleasant it is, the dancing drama between its fowl that has just perched on our rope.
Now to the facts of the matter, Osun state should be ready to explain to the public, if there was an arrangement between the two states (Oyo and Osun) to pay LAUTECH salaries on six monthly basis? How faithfully has Osun been discharging its own share of this responsibility since 2013? Osun state should also toe the path of honour by telling the public, how many teaching hospitals service LAUTECH’s medical programme? If Osun state has been funding the LAUTECH Teaching hospital in Osogbo, Osun State, who has been funding the LAUTECH Teaching hospital in Ogbomoso, Oyo state?
If Oyo state has not neglected the release of salary subvention to LAUTECH workers, just because the state funds the teaching hospital on Ogbomoso, Oyo state, why is Osun state hiding under the excuse that it has been paying salaries in the teaching hospital in Osogbo alone?
The two teaching hospitals have their separate governing boards, their memberships are separately drawn from individuals within their states, and the financial obligations are borne separately by individual states. For Osun to insinuate that Oyo has been cheating it because of this arrangement is factually incorrect and realistically deceptive. To this, we ask Osun to stop hiding behind one finger. May we also ask why is it that it is only when it comes to Osun’s turn to pay salaries in LAUTECH that they start looking for issues to complain about?
As ASUU, while we don’t want to be drawn into the ownership politics of LAUTECH between Oyo and Osun states, we will not stand by and watch one state feed the public with lies to justify the wicked abandonment of our members to the vagaries of hunger, deprivation and financial embarrassment resulting from unpaid salaries. If a man endowed with the bipedal facility of locomotion, choses to limp on one leg, at the edge of a dangerous precipice, a wise man should know that the man risks a tragic crash at the end of his funny experiment. ASUU LAUTECH has spoken and we believe, a word should be sufficient for the wise. Please, we are tired of this unpleasant orchestra of lies. If the state is finding it difficult to swing its arms, let it device a convenience alternative of putting them on its head. Education is such a delicate matter to be left at the mercy of deceptive politics. LAUTECH is not a conquered territory and its workers are not indentured serfs that can be tossed around like a helpless orphan. Enough is enough
Thank you.
‘Biodun Olaniran, PhD ‘Toyin Abegunrin, PhD
Chairperson Secretary
(For and on behalf of Academic Staff Union of Universities, LAUTECH branch)
