President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodoke, has debunked report making the rounds that he called all state-owned universities as “quacks”.
CAMPUS GIST understands that there was heavy backlash over the statement credited to Osodeke that universities owned by state governments are “quack” and should not be taken seriously.
He spoke on Thursday when he appeared on Arise Television to address some issues regarding the ongoing strike action embarked upon by ASUU over six months ago.
On the state universities that recently pulled out of the strike, the ASUU president was quoted as saying, “talk about important universities not those quacks. They’re not part of our strike”.
Several state universities including Vice Chancellor of the Osun State University, Prof. Odunayo Adebooye had attacked Osodoke, describing the ASUU president as a ‘careless talker’ over his unpleasant comments.
Adebooye said the State university has 481 full-time academic staff and among them, 387 are full-time Ph.D. holders, insisting, “this is not a quack.”
However, in an interview with Journalists on Saturday, the ASUU president debunked the report saying he was misquoted by the media.
According to Osodeke, he was referring to only three universities owned by State governments which are currently not on strike.
Describing the report as fake, Osodeke lamented unprofessionalism in reportage, alleging that the media aimed at creating confusion in the system.
He said, “There is nothing like that. It is a lie. I have told myself that I will not talk to the press again because they always misrepresent things.
“I have found out that Nigerian press is specialized in manipulating interviews, reporting what someone did not say just to create confusion in the system. They won’t report things the way it is”.
