Aluta! Ondo Varsity staff chase VC out of official quarters

Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, (SSANU), Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko branch, who are currently on a three-day warming strike over unpaid allowances, on Tuesday staged a protest march in the university campus. The workers chased the Vice Chancellor, Femi Mimiko, out of his residence over what they described as his “high-handedness.” They alleged that the VC, who is a younger brother to the state Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, treated the members of staff of the university as less than human. It took the combined efforts of policemen and operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) to rescue the VC through the back doors of his official residence when the angry protesters marched on the house. The striking workers massed around the imposing structure and sang solidarity songs, holding the VC and his management team hostage for hours. The incident later degenerated rapidly, as the workers hauled stones and other dangerous missiles at the building where Mimiko and the management team had just ended a meeting with leaders of the striking unions. They were protesting over payment of arrears of hazard allowance as captured in the FGN-Unions agreement of 2009. Attempts by the VC to leave the premises after the meeting was delayed for several hours, as the workers, led by Ayo Falade (JAC-3), Akingbesote (SSANU), Giwa (NASU) and Aguda (NAAT) virtually held him hostage. The VC’s exit was ultimately facilitated by some top officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) who, reportedly, had been around all day to discourage the striking workers from taking any action that could impair the delicate peace in the state. An aide to the VC who insisted on speaking anonymously after he (VC) had been spirited out of the complex decried the development which he described as unfair. “It was a horrible experience and to think that some workers could go to this extent to pursue arrears of a package that more than 90 per cent of universities in this country have not even started implementing at all is quite unfortunate. “I just thank God for the presence of the SSS people. The situation would have degenerated. Indeed, anything could have happened,” the aide said. Attempts to get the VC for comment proved abortive. He was, however, seen giving instructions to his security aides as he was driven past the mob. In his earlier address to the striking workers, JAC-3 Chairman, Ayo Falade, had vowed that his members would leave no stone unturned in collecting the arrears, noting that contrary to the claim by the university management, his union (SSANU) indeed had the approval of its national executive to embark on the three-day protest.