Students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, have been thrown into dilemma after the school’s branch of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) held its congress on Tuesday.

Briefing journalists on campus after the congress, Mr Adeola Egbedokun, branch chairman of the union, reiterated the stance of the national body, that the strike is total.

“The strike is total. No teaching, no exam, no statutory functions. We are not doing anything except observation of the strike.”

He, however, enjoined students of the institution to go home safely.

“We hereby tell our students that we love them and we don’t want to lose any of them at the cause of anything that may happen during the industrial action.”

However, some lecturers of the same university, under the banner, Congress of Nigerian Universities Academic (CONUA), vowed to continue the running of day to day activities in the school.

“We can’t generally be part of what we are not privy to. We were not taken into consideration, we were (not) approached on the issue. So, we can’t be part of the strike. Our members still respect statutory duties,” said Mr Niyi Sunmonu, chairman of CONUA.

The national strike was declared on Sunday by ASUU national president, Mr Biodun Ogunyemi, after National Executive Council meeting at Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) in Ondo State.

All academic staff of universities were directed to withdraw their services immediately.

He disclosed that the strike became necessary due to some reasons which include failure on the side of government to honour the memorandum of action signed between the union and the federal government in 2017 and renegotiation with ASUU which the government intentionally ignored with impunity.

He ordered that until the demands are met, no member should go to class.

PT