LAUTECH CRISIS: An Interview With ASUU Chairman

For over eight months, lecturers and non-academic staff at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology downed tools due to non-payment of salaries and allowances.
The staff also complained of others issues like inadequate funding of the university, jointly owned by the Osun and Oyo state governments.
In January, the owner states gave the university N500 million and the management called for a reopening of the institution. However, the lecturers, ASUU, said they would not resume.
In this exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES’ Olanrewaju Samuel, the chairman of ASUU at the university, Biodun Olaniran, spoke on his members’ decision.
Mr. Olaniran, a senior lecturer in Entomology / Pesticide Toxicology, also spoke on funding of the university, corruption and other issues.
PREMIUM TIMES: The current shutdown rocking LAUTECH has caused a lot of controversies, can you tell us the genesis of the whole disagreements?
ASUU CHAIR: The disagreements emanated from non-release of subventions to the university and subsequent use of internally generated revenue to offset salaries.
PREMIUM TIMES: How has LAUTECH been surviving till now? Why wait till the debt owed got to tune of N7.6 billion before acting?