Lagos – The Lagos State University (LASU) Staff and Students Union on Wednesday commended the state government for proposing a single term of five years for the post of the institution’s Vice-Chancellor.
Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode had on Nov. 15, sent the institution’s 2015 Amendment Bill to the State House of Assembly for ratification.
This is contained in a statement by the state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde.
The unions told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the development was a welcome idea.
Mr Saheed Oseni, Chairman, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), LASU chapter, said the bill when passed would go a long way in stabilising the institution.
Oseni said that the single term tenure for the vice-chancellor would also help to eliminate the lingering crisis in the institution because it would caution the substantive to be well behaved.
“The person coming on board will behave well within his or her period, knowing that his name will either be recorded in the good or bad book of the people,’’ he said.
Mr Alfred Agusuo, Chairman, Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), LASU chapter also commended the governor for doing the needful and yielding to the yearnings of the unions.
Agusuo said that the bill when implemented would lead to a reduction in the problems facing the institution as it did in federal universities within the country.
“Initially, the Federal Government was also operating a four-year renewable tenure in the federal universities which led to incessant crisis in most of the institutions.
“However, since the implementation of the single term of five years tenure, the problems in the federal universities had reduced to the barest minimum.
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“And I am sure the same will happen in LASU,’’ he said.
Mr Adeyemi Onikoro, Presidents, Lagos State University Students Union (LASUSU), also said the proposed bill was what obtained in other universities.
“This is an agreement that was agreed upon by all states, federal government and academic staff unions and as such, no state is expected to breach the agreement,’’ he said.
Onikoro urged the governor to as a matter of urgency look into the other issues affecting the institution as the issue of the vice-chancellor was not the only burning issue.
“We should not forget that this is not the only issue we have in LASU; there are other issues that call for attention of the visitor to the university.
We implore the visitor to the university, Gov. Ambode, to please look into these issues and take a swift step towards resolving them all,’’ he said. (NAN)