The face off between Asuu and the Federal Government has taken a new twist.
Angry leaders of the Academic Staff
Union of Universities allegedly chased away the Governor of Kogi State,
Captain Idris Wada (retd.) from the emergency ward of the Lokoja
General Hospital on Tuesday.
Wada had gone to the hospital to visit
their injured colleague, Dr. Ngozi Ilo, and commiserate with them
over the death of their former President, Prof. Festus Iyayi, in an
accident involving his convoy and an ASUU vehicle on Tuesday.
The Chairman, University of Benin
chapter of ASUU, Dr. Anthony Monye-Emina; and the Benin Zonal
Coordinator, Dr. Sunny Iyalo, had minor injuries and were therefore not
admitted into the hospital.
The ASUU leaders, including the
National President, Dr. Biodun Ogunyemi; the Ibadan Zonal Coordinator,
Dr. Nassir Adesola; the Chairman, Lagos State University chapter of the
union, Dr. Adekunle Idris; Monye-Emina; Iyalo and lecturers from
the Federal University Lokoja however sent the governor away from the
hospital’s emergency ward.
Their grouse was Wada’s late response
to the accident and the uncaring attitude he allegedly displayed towards
the union leaders involved in the accident.
They also accused him of trying to make a political gain out of their misfortune.
Idris, who confirmed that Wada was
chased out of the emergency ward, said, “We are surprised that a
state governor could resort to telling lies because contrary to the
claim by his spokesperson that he showed care towards our colleagues, he
did not.
“Somebody that did not stop after his
convoy killed our leader; somebody that did not come to the hospital
until some minutes to 5pm(on Tuesday) after the accident that happened
around 11am could not be said to be caring.
“That was why we chased him out of the
emergency ward of the hospital and we also prevented him from seeing
Prof. Iyayi’s corpse in the mortuary.
He said, “Some of the policemen that
followed him to the hospital wanted to be naughty but we lectured them.
The hospital workers and the residents of Lokoja who witnessed how we
chased the governor away were happy.”
Also, Adesola expressed dismay at the efforts made by the governor to rewrite the incident.
He said, “It was actually the last of
the governor’s convoy that veered off the road and ran into a vehicle
that was conveying Iyayi and others.
“When the governor’s convoy came with
noise and harassment, everyone on the road moved to the side of the
road for them to pass but unfortunately, the governor’s aide has told
the world that an ASUU vehicle was avoiding a trailer and ran into
their escort vehicle.
“What manner of reckless lying is that?
The front of the ASUU bus remains intact except for the windscreen
that broke. Iyayi was sitting at the back of the bus and the escort
van ran into it.
The most annoying part is that the
incident occurred around 11am and the governor did not even visit the
hospital until around 5pm.
“He came with a large number of
pressmen and security aides and was attempting to make some political
capital out of our misfortune.
“We actually had to chase him away from the emergency ward where our welfare secretary was still receiving treatment .”
In a related story, Leaders of the Academic Staff Union
of Universities, ASUU, yesterday, suspended indefinitely the union’s National
Executive Council, NEC, meeting planned to hold in Kano over the tragic
auto-crash that claimed the life of ASUU former President, Professor Festus
Iyayi, on Tuesday morning.
Thousands of students who had kept
vigil, waiting for the outcome of ASUU NEC meeting, therefore went home
disappointed following the announcement of the suspension of the meeting.
President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Fagge,
who announced the suspension of the NEC meeting in Kano, explained that the
union had to suspend the meeting following the sudden and tragic death of
Professor Festus Iyayi.
The NEC meeting was widely expected
to make a decisive statement on the five-month old ASUU strike that has
crippled academic activities in the public university system.
At a briefing, Fagge told reporters
in Kano that “we are compelled to postpone this meeting in the light of the
sudden death of one of our strongest pillars who died yesterday (Tuesday)
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