ASUU questions Mark’s ‘sound mind’, asks him to apologize to Onosode for reckless comments

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, University of Ibadan chapter, has condemned comments credited to Senate President, David Mark on the union’s 2009 agreement with the Federal Government.

Mark had questioned the competence of the team that negotiated the pact, saying “ASUU found that those who were sent there (government negotiating team led by Onosode) simply didn’t know their right from their left,” hence cajoling them into signing an utopian pact.

He stated this last Wednesday during a debate on the floor of the Senate regarding the ongoing action by university lecturers.

But the union said the comments ridiculed the leader of the Federal Government’s team, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode and therefore called on Mark to apologize.

It also called to question the memory of the Senate President, saying Mark’s view smirked of disbelief about his knowledge of national issues as he was already the head of the Senate when the agreement was signed.

At the end of a congress held at the University of Ibadan during the weekend, Chairman of ASUU chapter, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, said the elder statesman was a man of honour, who deserved commendations, not attack.

He said, “Onosode is a man of proven integrity, and impeccable character. He deserves better than the colour painted of him by the Senate President. The Congress respects the personality of Onosode, an alumnus of the University College Ibadan, who has served as the Chairman of governing councils of UI and University of Lagos and a successful businessman who has served the country in various intervention capacities.

“The congress condemns these disparaging comments and demands that the Senate President apologises to this elder statesman. Can we actually trust these characters to midwife any intervention with a bias and myopic construction myth makes right? he asked.

“Where else in the world are senators earning bogus allowances as we have in the National Assembly? We challenge the Revenue Allocation, Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission to publish salaries and allowance of the senate president for Nigerians to see how patriotic he is to the true state of the economy.”

Ajiboye advised Senate to be sensitive to national issues, saying President Goodluck Jonathan, who was then the Vice President when the agreement with ASUU was signed, instructed the government team to sign the agreement.