The new Vice-Chancellor of University of Abuja, Prof. Michael Adikwu, has promised to reconcile the warring staff unions of the university, which he said have brought the institution to its knees in the last few years.
Members of the university branch of Academic Staff Unions of Universities and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities are currently on strike over alleged unpaid allowances and non-release of White Paper on the Visitation Panel to the university.
The strike disrupted the conduct of the second semester examinations which led to series of protest by aggrieved students.
The school was eventually closed down by the immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. James Adelabu.
But Adikwu, who took over the mantle of leadership of the institution on Tuesday, said his first assignment was to restore order by reconciling various factions and interests groups within the institution.
Until his appointment, Adikwu was a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
He said academics should not be politicised, adding that what was important was for all stakeholders to work in harmony to raise the bar of academic standards of the university.
The new Vice Chancellor pledged to ensure that the university had the best academic standard in Nigeria.
Adikwu, said, “The running of a university is a pilgrimage, it is a continuous process. I will ensure there is best academic standard in the school. As I was informed the school is currently on forced vacation, so the first approach is to see how we can bring back both the lecturers and students of the school, so that normal academic activities resume soonest.
“It is imperative to reconcile everybody in this university because without reconciliation we cannot move forward. We should not allow our school to be politicalized and education should be used to solve socio-economic problems and not to create more problems. I am going to work out modality to ensure stability in University of Abuja community.” source www.punchng.com
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