UNILAG SSANU defends registrar, cautions ASUU

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter has cautioned Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Mr Dele Ashiru against making derogatory remarks against the registrar of the institution, Mr Oladejo Azeez.

SSANU in a statement made available to Tribune Online, on Tuesday, condemned Ashiru’s castigation of the registrar for sending internal memos to principal officers of the institution as illogical and non-factual.

Defending the institution’s registrar, SSANU said ASUU should take cognisance of the fact that the registrar was obliged to serve both the warring management and council and only sent out the said memos as directed by the council.

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Likening the registrar’s position to being between the devil and deep blue sea, SSANU held that it was hypocritical and insensitive for the ASUU Chairman to strongly lambast the registrar for carrying out his lawful duties.

SSANU held that the issue relating to poor handling of the school’s accounts between the management and council was systemic and predated the current management and that the registrar should not personally take the blame for the impasse between the two parties.

More importantly, SSANU urged management and the council to resolve their differences, particularly focusing on issues of timely promotion of staff, the general welfare of students and workers, execution of projects.

The statement read, “The ASUU Chairman has to be reminded that by tongue-lashing the Registrar, he has indirectly bitten the fingers that fed him as his admission letter as a student was issued under the official auspices of the Registrar’s office. His appointment letter, which, like that of every staff, most probably opened with, ‘you are hereby appointed by the council of the University of Lagos‘, bears the revered implication of reference to the Registrar.

“Also, anytime he is promoted, the emblem of the office of the Registrar will be indicated. This means that whoever occupies the position of Registrar, MUST be respected logically, officially and personally. It is the system that confers that particular degree of reverence on the Registrar of all higher institutions.”

“This is the type of system the staff and unions (academic and non-academic) have imaginatively and accurately viewed as supporting a set of the cabal in and out of campus at the expense of proper reward and remuneration of a majority of the workers.

“The face-off has led to an open sore, which has degenerated to muscle flexing between Management and Council, with the University Registrar hanging between the devil and the deep blue sea as he is Management’s Chief Administrator as well as the Council’s Secretary. In the absence of the Council, he has to be loyal to the Management of the University. However, immediately Council is involved in an issue, his official loyalty automatically shifts to the Council, which is headed by the Council Chairman.

“Again, the issue is systemic and not to be personalised. The Registrar has to be seen as being officially and naturally going along the path of ‘the theory of playing position’. He has played the role of the position in which he found himself. It is, therefore, hypocritical and insensitive, as well as a demonstration of lack of logical reasoning for the ASUU Chairman to have castigated the Registrar so nauseatingly.

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“The management should conscientiously measure the attitude of past vice-chancellors to issues of timely promotion of staff, general welfare of students and workers, as well as execution of projects, all of which most workers have deemed to be of very low status compared to the income of the university, a situation that has caused silent but flaming psychological angst against past administrations. Where there are needs for amendments, the present management should do this.”

“Again, the issue is systemic and not to be personalised. The Registrar has to be seen as being officially and naturally going along the path of ‘the theory of playing position’. He has played the role of the position in which he found himself. It is, therefore, hypocritical and insensitive, as well as a demonstration of lack of logical reasoning for the ASUU Chairman to have castigated the Registrar so nauseatingly.”