In bid to ensure compliance with the COVID-19 guidelines and the safety of staffs and students, branches of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have attested that most of them are not prepared for the reopening due to COVID-19 protocols not in place.

The union Chairman at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State, Dr Adeola Egbedokun, revealed that classroom and hostel situations in universities did not in any way conform to COVID-19 protocols.

 “COVID-19 is very real and this second wave is as real as described. We cannot afford to toy with our health and the health of our dear students in the name of resumption, which is politically motivated.

“There are no preparations for safe re-opening of the universities and I think parents must insist on safe re-opening. The current classroom and hostel configurations in our universities do not in any way conform to the PTF (Presidential Task Force) on COVID-19 protocols. There is no way universities can achieve that. I have said this elsewhere, that rather than for government to have addressed the obvious deficits in the public universities during the lockdown and strike, they were playing to the gallery.”

OAU spokesperson, Abiodun Olanrewaju, however, said the university management was ready for resumption and had put in place “a lot in relation to the COVID-19 protocols” in a bid to ensure safety.

ASUU chairman, the Federal University of Agriculture,  Abeokuta (FUNAAB),  Dr Adebayo Oni, said “The lectures halls are overcrowded.  As of today, in my own campus, I have not seen any facility for hand washing. Who is to provide sanitizers? Do you expect lecturers to provide sanitizers for themselves?

“Fumigation of the environment from time to time should be done, How do you cope with students surge and the challenge of power supply?”

Oni said the union had observed that conducting physical lectures with students would be more disastrous.

 “The fact is that under this circumstance and looking at the threat of the figure, going physical with students would be more disastrous.  Conducting physical session, physical lectures with students would be more disastrous.

“The truth of the matter is that we now propose a mixed model of online teaching and probably some level of physical teachings.

“Even the online teaching also comes with its own facilities which are not readily available.

“We don’t want to be pessimistic to say that it is not going to be workable. However, it is going to be at the risk of our lives and the lives of our students if the required facilities are not  provided by the government.

“The truth is that the facilities to cope with the pandemic are not available in our institutions. It appears the government is not ready and our institutions are not helpful,” said.

The Chairman, ASUU, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University branch (ATBU), Dr Musa Babayo, also opined that “The coast is now very clear as ASUU suspended its strike and it has gone further to show how government and institutions are not serious in the handling universities, particularly the issues of COVID-19.

“When you talk about ATBU and resumption whether ASUU is satisfied, I can tell you that we have yet to see any tangible improvement, whether in hostel accommodation, classrooms and other things needed for COVID-19 protocols.”

The Chairman of ASUU at the University of Jos, Dr Lazarus Maigoro, revealed that the association was concerned about the second wave of COVID-19.

He said it was expected of the university authority to comply with the COVID-19 protocol by providing necessary materials needed to contain the spread of the disease in the varsity.  

UNIJOS’ Deputy Registrar, Information and Publications,  Abdullahi Abdullahi, disclosed that “We do not know yet when UNIJOS will resume. The Senate will be meeting today (Monday) and that is where they will decide when the institution will reopen.”

The union chairman, University of Calabar, Dr John Edor, stated that the association would not expose its members to health hazards.

He said, “As a union, we are not too quick to talk. We are not too fast to become meddlesome. They have said schools are permitted to resume on the 18th of January, 2021. If by then we see that the necessary things are not put in place for the resumption, the union will come up with a position because we are not ready to expose our members to health hazards.

“That was why we went on strike, asking for revitalisation of public universities. Revitalisation simply means conducive theatres, conducive hostels, offices, laboratories and libraries.

“That is why we are saying let us wait till 18th of January and see how prepared Nigerian public universities are in the face of the second wave of COVID-19 which has come up with a more ferocious variant.”

Dr Austen Sado, the ASUU chairman of the University of Port Harcourt, expressed that “We have not been invited to inspect any facility in order to determine its suitability. So, we will wait until we get clarification on the resumption, then we will know whether there are things to contend with.”

However, University of Lagos (UNILAG) senate would be deciding date of the institution’s date for resumption on Wednesday.

Registrar of University of Lagos, Mr Oladejo Azeez, disclosed that “Irrespective of what the Federal Government has said, the resumption of students or of academic activities is the prerogative of Senate. Senate of the university will decide and the meeting of the Senate is coming up on Wednesday; a virtual meeting. The law places this in the hands of the Senate and until Senate meets, there is no way anybody can say anything on resumption.”