Senate asks Unilorin to reabsorb sacked 49 lecturers

Soji-Eze Fagbemi and Taiwo Adisa, Abuja
- 19.03.2008

The Senate on Tuesday asked the Governing Council of the University of Ilorin to unconditionally pardon the 49 sacked lecturers from the university and reabsorb them “without losing their seniority and payment of their salaries effective from when they are re-engaged.”

But, the Senate told the 49 affected lecturers to tender “unreserved apology” to the Governing Council as the first step to resolve the crisis.

These decisions were contained in the recommendations of the Senate Committee on Education, following a meeting held on Monday with the Minister of Education, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, and the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in attendance.

The meeting, according to the Committee Chairperson, Senator Joy Emodi, who briefed journalists on Tuesday, was put in place to find a political solution to the crisis and checkmate the proposed nation-wide strike which notice had been served by ASUU.

She said: “The committee believes that peace, harmony and commitment are the only vehicles through which attainment of quality education and indeed the development of the educational sector in line with EFA 2015 target can be realized. The committee consequently requests all concerned to show maturity and patriotism in the resolution of the matter.”

“The 49 affected university of Ilorin lecturers should tender unreserved apology to the Governing Council of the University of Ilorin; The 49 lecturers should, on rendering the apology, be unconditionally pardoned by the Governing Council of the University of Ilorin”, the panel recommended among others.