The Vice Chancellor of the Bamidele Olumilua Univeristy of Education, Science and Technology, Ikere-Ekiti (BOUESTI) in Ekiti State, Professor Victor Adeoluwa has advised the federal government to honour the agreement it had with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for the union to end the ongoing strike in the interest of the students.
Adeoluwa who spoke during the 2021/2022 matriculation ceremony of 1,850 new students of the university on Friday, lamented the impact of the ongoing strike on the nation’s education sector and the future of the students.
He explained that university would continue to offer qualitative education to its students including exposing them to necessary skills that would be of help to them after graduating from the institution.
According to him, since the upgrade of the institution to university status by the governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi in October 2020, it has been running an uninterrupted academic sessions.
He said, “ I will advise ASUU leadership to continue to dialogue with government and government do the needful with ASUU and implement agreement that are willingly made with trade unions in the country so that our institutions could be what we all desire them to be.”
Advising the new students, the VC said, ” they should focus on the acquisition of those skills so that at the end of the day , it’s going to be an advantage for them in the labour market. We are not expecting them to graduate and begin to look for jobs except they so desire.
“But they will be able to be employers of labour when they graduate. That’s our focus and we are trying to do that for them in four years and by the grace of God, in four years, they would be able to know that they have acquired something very good.”
He explained that the university has zero tolerance for social vices such as cultism, exam malpractices and violence, adding that anyone found culpable would be punished according to the laws of the institution.