The Chairman, Academic Staff Union of University, University of Lagos chapter, Dr Oghenekaro Ogbinaka has asked federal government to fulfill the agreement reached with the union in 2009 if indeed it wants them to resume work in the nation's varsities.
Ogbinaka made this known while addressing the media in Lagos on the on-going face off between varsity lecturers and the Federal Government.
Of the whole gamut of issues raised in the agreement, Ogbinaka said government should as a matter of urgency address the three most pressing ones which include, the request to shift the retirement age of academics in professorial ranks from 65 to 70 years, urgent de-classification of Universities' Governing Councils as federal government parastatals and immediate harmonization of establishing acts of state universities so as to make staff benefits stay at par with those in federal government owned universities.
"There are departments without professors, sometimes for over four years, after serving Professors have retired from affected faculties. No academic gets elevated as a Professor simply because one has retired or left the faculty. It is a position that must be earned based on meeting the requisite standard of research and publishing. The benefit of extending the retirement age of professors far outweigh what would be if otherwise," Ogbinaka said.
He said if the governing councils are yanked off the parastatals of federal government, the nation's university system will enjoy some leverage of autonomy, just as qualified individuals capable of attracting funds and impacting positively on the university system will emerge.
DailyTrust