THE crisis trailing the recent suspension of some academic programmes of the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA) took a dangerous dimension at the week as the academic union became divided over the teachers' response to the development.This fresh dimension to the crisis is coming just as the task team raised by the federal government last week to begin the search for permanent solutions to the accreditation crisis is expected to begin exploratory meeting today. The team was raised last week Thursday by the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai with the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie as Chairman.While the officially recognized UNIABUJA Chapter of the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) after its meeting passed a resolution passing a vote-of no confidence on the leadership of the institution for its alleged ineptitude, a splinter group promptly emerged to counter the resolution and instead passed a vote of no confidence on the union's leadership.Coincidentally, both resolutions were arrived at after separate congresses said to have been held on Friday. Both factions claimed they held their meetings at the Indoor Theatre of the University. The resolutions of the local chapter was signed by its Chairman, Dr. Clement Chup, with one Dr. Shima Atimga as the Secretary, however, the name of Dr. W.D. Namfada is on the official letter head as the Secretary.The Chup-led ASUU congress observed that the accreditation problems could have been resolved, but for the Vice Chancellor's alleged lack of commitment to the development of those programmes. 'Congress noted too that the VC's non-challant attitude has brought decay to all other programmes of the university.While condemning the VC's alleged press utterances indicting ASUU of corruption, it resolved equally to make explanations to the public on the issued raised by the VC. It also condemned the University's Governing Council for its failure to meet on Thursday, more so as it the Council was expected to deliberate on the report of the committee that investigated the submission of ASUU on the decay in the university.It, therefore, resolved to pass a vote of no confidence on the VC who, it said, had so far demonstrated 'far-reaching administrative incompetence'. Besides, it resolved to 'Immediately initiate procedures for indefinite strike action in the event of failure of the Council to remove the vice Chancellor in its forthcoming meeting of April 18, 2012.'However, the resolutions of the splinter group, which called itself the Integrity Group was signed by one Dr. Yau Damagun with Dr. Peter Maidoki as the Secretary. The group threw its weight behind the Vice Chancellor, Prof. James Sunday Adelabu.The Integrity Group in a communiqu after its meeting in the main campus of the institution last Friday, said at a time where the image of the university was under threat, the reasonable thing to do was to work with the VC as a means of resolving all issues affecting the institution rather than exacerbate the situation as being done by some staff.The group observed that 'as far as the current situation is concerned, everything is on track to set the university on the road to attaining full accreditation for all its academic programmes. At the moment, the NUC is working with the university according to the Hon. Minister of Education's directive on how to resolve the problems.While commending the steps taken by the Minister of Education and the NUC to reposition the institution and education in general in the country, the Integrity Group said they have passed 'a vote of no confidence on the leadership of the group. We are completely opposed to the Clement Chup resolutions and the threat of the group to go on indefinite strike. Our students have suffered untold hardships due to incessant strikes.'Trouble started in the institution when the Minister of Education suspended four courses; Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Engineering and Agriculture from accredited courses offered by the university for lack of facilities penultimate week. But the suspension on Agriculture was lifted last week when it was discovered that the suspension was wrongly clamped on it.Meanwhile,the Lead City University, Ibadan whose license was suspended along with six other private universities in the country recently by the National Universities Commission (NUC), has taken its case to the National Assembly to seek its intervention.The university management in its report to the House of Representatives urged the lawmakers to rescue the institution from the seeming high handedness of the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Julius Okojie.Addressing reporters in Ibadan on the development, the institution's Vice Chancellor, Prof. Olufemi Onabajo stated that the new wave of attack on the university by Okojie was aimed at gradually killing the university.He alluded to the threat made by the NUC boss to 'kill the institution' gradually saying this will not succeed.The Pro-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Jide Owoeye who fielded questions from newsmen at the media briefing described the purported suspension of his university licence as a flagrant contraption of the law governing the establishment of private varsity in the country.Owoeye attributed the action of Okojie on the university as a manifestation of his alleged threat to the institution's Vice-Chancellor. He stated that the university has not committed any offense known to law as various ministerial visitation panels set up on the LCU/NUC face-off in the past had returned a clean bill verdict on the institution, maintaining that the face- off is assuming a personality war.Owoeye disclosed that there was no correspondence from the NUC to the university on purported suspension of the license up to the time of the conference.
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