KWASU blasts ASUU President, apologizes for comments

PRESS RELEASE

REBITE: KWARA STATE UNIVERSITY NOT A ROUGH UNIVERSITY

The attention of the management of Kwara State University, Malete (KWASU) has been drawn to the statements of the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, during an interview he granted to Arise Television. took action on the ongoing strike by the Association.

In the interview, Professor Osodeke described Kwara State University, among some other state-owned institutions in Nigeria, as “quacks” and “irrelevant” for the sole reason that these institutions are not on strike.

The management of the Kwara State University views these statements as undeserving of an academic of Professor Osodeke’s purported stature who should know better than to denigrate institutions of higher learning for one reason unrelated to any factor used to to measure the standard of institutions anywhere in the world. .

Professor Osodeke’s statements are tantamount to bullying. They are reckless, uncalled for and an affront to the status he holds as the National Head of the Union of Academic Staff in Nigeria.

For the record, Kwara State University is an institution founded on the vision of advancing the frontiers of knowledge for the benefit of society. We have taken the lead as the first public university in Nigeria to expand higher education curriculum to equip our students with entrepreneurial skills to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Kwara State University is also the leading University that focuses on communities with the aim of solving challenges they face while helping to develop these communities. Currently, we are the only university in Nigeria that is green in its thinking and activities as proactive measures to save the environment. All these reflect in our mantra of “the green University for Community Development and Entrepreneurship”.

Again, Kwara State University is the first institution in Nigeria to set up Aerospace Engineering as a forward-thinking move to develop human capacity for the country’s aerospace needs.

Many of our ideas are echoed by many other institutions that applauded Professor Osodeke in his uncritical statements.

Kwara State University’s entrepreneurship training model is now a recommended addition to institutions in the country, just as we helped develop the curriculum of secondary schools to enable the inclusion of entrepreneurship training at that level.

Kwara State University has all its academic programs accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and required professional regulatory bodies.

As an institution established barely thirteen years ago, KWASU has made a name for itself as a University that focuses on breaking new ground, doing new things and advancing society through its students, activities and contributions to industry and society as a whole.

With excellent academic staff, many of whom are nationally and internationally renowned, together with the quality of our graduates, many of whom are in virtually every state of the country and even in many countries of the world, the statements of the ASUU National President describing KWASU as being among universities that are “quack” and irrelevant in the comity of universities in the country indicates that he is limited in his understanding of what is happening around him: this is a sad commentary on the status of the person who held in such reverence. position.

A retraction of this heinous statement and a published apology to Kwara State University immediately from Professor Emmanuel Osodeke is in order as the institution will not remain silent in the face of defamatory accusations leveled against its existence and contributions.

Dr. Saeedat Aliyu
Director, University Relations
Kwara State University, Malete