The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has demanded a public apology and the immediate resignation of former Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda, as Chairman of the Governing Council of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), over comments the union described as threatening, contemptuous and dangerous to university autonomy.
ASUU made the demand on Tuesday during a press briefing at its secretariat in Bauchi, addressed by the Chairperson of the union’s Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi Branch, Dr. Angulu Haruna.
Haruna said the union was alarmed by Yuguda’s remarks at the end of a recent National Assembly public hearing on the bill seeking to convert Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) from a university of technology to a conventional university.
According to ASUU, Yuguda was quoted as saying that “any person who is against turning the University into a conventional University is a criminal,” a statement the union described as unacceptable and unbecoming of someone entrusted with university governance.
The ASUU chairperson also accused the former governor of displaying open disdain for academics, alleging that Yuguda, while reacting to opposition from professors, exclaimed: “Who the hell are professors for goodness sake!”
Haruna said such comments amount to an attack on university autonomy and intellectual freedom, stressing that participation in a public hearing is a constitutional right of citizens.
“It is appalling and unfortunate for a former chief executive of a state to criminalise people who merely exercised their rights in a legislative process,” he said.
ASUU further argued that Yuguda’s conduct raises serious concerns about his competence, integrity and commitment to nation building and national security, especially given his current role as Pro-Chancellor of NOUN, an institution overseen by the Federal Government under Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“It is against this backdrop that our union is calling on Malam Isa Yuguda to publicly withdraw his statement and quietly resign from his position as Chairman of the Governing Council of the National Open University of Nigeria. You cannot preside over a system you hold with such disappointing contempt,” Haruna said.
The union also disputed Yuguda’s claim that he laboured for the establishment of ATBU’s College of Medical Sciences, insisting that the programme predated his administration and that the Bauchi State Government merely benefited from its creation after handing over a state specialist hospital to the Federal Government.
ASUU further condemned what it described as additional threats to university autonomy by a former Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Alhaji Ladan Salihu, who allegedly released a video message accusing opponents of the bill of being “enemies of the people of Bauchi State.”
Haruna warned that such rhetoric poses risks to the safety of professors and university administrators.
The union called on the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), the Minister of Education, the Bauchi State Governor and the President of Nigeria, as Visitor to the university, to intervene urgently to protect ATBU, its governing council, and academic staff from intimidation and threats.
Armstrong Bakam
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