The management of the Lagos State University (LASU) has withdrawn the PhD certificates of the chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and 13 other members.
ASUU Lagos zonal Coordinator, Dr. Sola Nasir, made this known to Daily Sun on Thursday at a briefing in the old LASU Sociology Department lecture hall in the midst of other ASUU chairmen from University of Lagos, Olabisi Onabanjo University, University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Tai Solarin University of Education.
The ASUU-LASU chairman, Dr. Adekunle Idris confirmed that the management withdrew his PhD certificate and that of 13 others from different departments alleging that there were errors in the wordings.
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Dr. Nasir, explained that the institution management in their letters to the affected members said it discovered some errors in their PhD certificates and asked the holders to return them for correction, adding that the union expected them to effect the correction and produce new ones for them.
“The ASUU-LASU chairman, Dr Idris is not alone, there are 14 other lecturers with the Accounting Department having the highest with five. For LASU Senate to have made those errors, it places question mark on the persons that make up the Senate. We can rule that the purpose was to victim some of our members,” he said.
The ASUU coordinator urged the state Governor, Babatunde Fashola to set up a visitation panel on LASU and also pleaded with him to call the Vice Chancellor, Prof John Obafunwa to order in order for peace to reign.
“What we experiencing in LASU is a fall out of the last ASUU-LASU strike. ASUU Lagos zone and national are behind ASUU-LASU. We will fight him (VC) until he is out of the office,” Dr. Nasir said.
Dr. Idris, revealed that he finished his PhD in 2011 and was given the certificate in 2012 and signed by the current VC, Prof Obafunwa and the former Registrar, Mr. Lateef Animashaun.
‘’I fulfilled all the conditions before being issued the PhD certificate. It is because of the last ASUU strike, it is a backlash. They are withdrawing the certificate, if I were working abroad what will happen? The Senate that took the decision ended there meeting after 8pm without lunch or dinner for the Professors and others. Accreditation is coming in December in 2014, five of lecturers whose certificates were withdrawn are from a department that will face National Universities Commission (NUC) accreditation team. Th3e issue of certificate withdraw is an act of victimization. There are 14 persons involved, but I know I am the target. In the letter asking me to return the PhD certificate, no time frame was given unlike others. My PhD is in the Business Admin (Marketing) but they say the error is the marketing but my counsel has written the Governing Council and VC, Prof Obafunwa on the PhD certificate withdraw,” he said.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that two of the affected members in the Accounting Department used same PhD certificates to earn promotion to Associate Professors.
It would be recalled that Governor Babatunde Fashola announced the reversal of LASU school fees to the old rate of N25,000 during the last convocation of the institution in Lagos, western Nigeria.
