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Begin forwarded message:
From: Diran <diran_bepo@yahoo.com>
Date: November 4, 2013 9:24:17 GMT
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Senator Adeyeye responds to ASUU
Adetunji Azeez,congratulations on your Acting Headship. It is a recognition and I join many other well-wishers to appreciate God for you. I don't know how long you have been in the saddle, but keep up the good work as you have enlightened most, if not all of us on your steadfastness to your calling and students. I initially wanted to ignore your insinuations, but on a second thought,(I didn't have to consult colleague), I decided to make a few things clearer to you.Tunji, The point remains that you were once my student, even if a 'tutorial' student. My journey in UI was also handsomely beautified by senior colleagues taking us tutorials while they were on their postgraduate programme. Some of them are Professors today! And anywhere I see them, I accord them the Honour due to a teacher and a lecturer. May be that is where we differ. And you should know that Honour is reciprocal.Having said that, may I reiterate that I count is as a rare privilege for which I remain eternally grateful to God and my mentor, teacher and Professor, Femi Osofisan to have been asked to handle a 'tutorial' for him, as my supervisor then. I know you were not the only one under the sound and influence of my voice in those 'tutorials' and you know that without those 'tutorials', if I want to massage your ego a little, or the other way round, your cumulative assessment would not have been complete for the MA you eventually got. For your information, I returned grades to my Prof, who was officially your lecturer on your behalf, because I was the one in charge.That I was not officially a lecturer in the department then as you claim is far from the truth. I was officially a Teaching Assistant, as we were all designated, with a number of other colleagues, empowered to take classes and other assignments as the HoD deemed fit and if you must know, and that was how I came to become your lecturer. Or is there a difference between a teacher and a lecturer? We all had official communication from the University to legitimize our service. In the university system, is it not graduate assistants that are assigned to Professor? That Ibadan chose to recognize us as Teaching Assistants to us is a matter of nomenclature.I count the years 1994-2000 as the beginning signpost of my teaching career, during which period you were my 'tutorial' student. As I said above, I have been privileged to have countless students before you, with you and after you, many of them better than you under my tutelage, students who show gratitude to their former teacher, to engage in a diatribe with you. At both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Many of them are teaching in tertiary institutions across the country and beyond, one of them is even a Professor today! I am proud of all of them. In fact, till date, I still remember my former informal lesson teacher in Primary Five-Six as one of my teachers in life, as someone who had an influence on me. You see.When You say you were never my official student, I give it to you as I am not in a hurry to add you to my list of ex-students. I don't take credit for what I was not or am not. If at that stage of my post-graduate training as you acknowledged in your post I could be entrusted with a graduate class, what does that tell you? You fondly called me First Born, and I usually called you Second Born of Orunmila. Remember?So, my dear Adetunji PhD, Acting Head of Department, you may keep,your apology to yourself. It is not necessary. If what I have here reads like a retraction statement, which you earnestly seek and want, feel free to take it so. The facts are there to,judge.To Moses, your points are well taken. Sometimes, because some of the posts don't appear in a thread, you mix up some detail. I have decided to start using the name Moses like you as from now. LoL!To Farooq, you are right, mine was a badly executed joke . I pray you are all assuaged.And like Someone said...I think it is BA ( now I have to be careful!), o tan ninu mi, that is , I am done for now.As we await the outcome of the GEJ parley with ASUU and other stakeholders this Monday over the impasse, I wish all our Moslem compatriots a Happy New Year!Shalom!Moses K. 'Diran Ademiju-Bepo PhD(Aka Mask the Priest)
Sent from my iPadDiran and Moses,
I don't know where this argument back and forth will lead to or if it is capable of returning some sanity to our messy educational sector with particular reference to our universities but, I will like to make the following remarks pertaining the issue and my person in relation to this whole debate and my last post and what it has generated, specifically;
1. Diran, I was never officially your student at any stage of my academic pursuit. No. You were on you PhD while I was on a Master's programme. Yes, you were, as academic culture of Ibadan expects, attached to my class by Professor Femi Osofisan to handle tutorial in a Dramatic Literature course. To claim to being my lecturer would amount to you claiming that at that point in time, you were a lecturer in the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan. Before posting this, I got in touch with colleague in the department. If my claim is wrong, I'd apologise if not please retract your statement. We are scholars and should dwell on fact and verifiable truth.
2. Perhaps, Moses, you should read my posts at the begging of this whole debacle. I NEVER argued against the fact that the problems facing the university system is purely funding or that lecturers are not engaged in some of the ignominious activities such as victimisation, sexual harassment, inducement and intellectual laziness and so on. Yes, in truth ASUU at national and local levels must act to correct this and that adequate funding, commensurate remuneration, research grants and infrastructural development in synergy with sanction for erring lecturers are needed to address these problems. I remember pointing out that ASUU has an Ethics Committee to handle such abuses. Perhaps what is needed is to ensure that this committee works as it should. I'm aware of some lecturers that have been sacked for such offences and ASUU never defended them. Moses, that ASUU is doing nothing is not true that it needs to do more is not in contention.
3. My allusion to your claim to higher intellect derived from a post in response to Diran where you wrote that if a particular thinking could come from a university teacher, that explains the quality of our undergraduates. I can't remember the particular post now as I'm replying to this in the midst of a whole lot of work. Sir, the day I sense that I'm intellectually inferior to any scholar local, foreign or Diaspora, I'd pack my bags out of the system and leave the space to batter candidates. I came into the system by conviction that I could contribute something to the system. So, Moses, inferiority complex with me, no, never.
4. My full name is AZEEZ, Adetunji but I prefer the short form- Tunji Azeez. Most of my students call me TA. I teach at Lagos State University, Lagos and I'm current Acting Head of Department.
5. You asked if I would be willing to subject myself to evaluation by my students. Yes, I would, gladly. Let me inform you that in my Department, even before I became Acting Head, we have distributed questionnaires to our students at the end of semesters and sessions to examine ourselves. This has been revealing and we are making corrections. We also organise what we call "family meeting" with students and staff. We make it very informal and our students have spoken freely and none of them has been victimised after. At these meetings issues relating to attendance at lectures by staff and students, extortion, sexual abuse etc have been trashed. We have acted promptly, also, on anonymous letters by students against lecturers by investigating claims. I believe that we need to do more but we can only do more when students report cases officially without fear of reprisal. Although, I understand their fears but, we always encourage them to speak up as we aren't training docile people or robots for the society.
6. Moses, I got to LASU in 1998 and in all my years, I can't remember being absent from class without a cause. I must add that I also have not been late to class up to 15 times in 15 years. If I was to be absent or late for a few minutes, I always communicate this to mystudents. I've said this believing as you said that we are in an age where information can be got in no time. So, please feel free find out if there's any truth in my claims.
7. Yes, truly, there are lecturers who regurgitate old notes, I don't. And this is why I get frustrated with the system for not providing basic instructional materials so one could give one's best. This was what I meant when I wrote in my post that what some of our colleagues in other countries take for granted, we labour to get. Yet we must compete with colleagues outside the country. That was what led to my "rants", "inanities" "regurgitation" as you prefer to call my long talk about the rot in the system. Really, Moses, I wish things were better, when they do, most of us will be more ffilled and productive. That was why I wrote that the Diaspora needs to understand what's truly on ground to be able to work with those at home for the good of the nation. I remember posting, here, professor Tejumola Olaniyan's book donation recently to my Deparment. By the way, if you could be kind to assist us, too, despite our differences, I'd be glad.
8. I still insist that your position on ASUU is one sided and, Moses, that won't help the debate to move the system forward. Yes, our strike option is time worn but if ASUU has no option for now, people can suggest. Some of us have suggested that we do a documentary on our univerities and post on youtube and other media for Nigerians to see. This and other media can galvanise the people. However, you are not correct to say that ASUU's demands are pecuniary. No. Of course, there is nothing stating that ASUU shouldn't ask for pecuniary benefits if they are deserved.
9. I also maintain that you pick only those things that interest you in a post without linking what you've picked to the larger argument. If it's a style, as I said in my post, there's nothing I can do to change it. However, I strongly advocate that we be as objective as possible in our analysis. We can't be infallible and admission of new ideas or a better evaluation of old ones is the hall of scholarship.
Finally, please, when you pick and respond to what interests you in this post, include my request for assistance in your interest. Do have a nice weekend.
Tunji AzeezSent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.From: Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com>Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2013 19:21:35 -0500To: USAAfricaDialogue<usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>ReplyTo: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.comSubject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Senator Adeyeye responds to ASUUDiran,One cannot win with you people. If one ignores your post, you scream. If one responds to what is worthy of a response in your post and ignores the tangents, the diversions, and the irrelevances you accuse one of responding to some paragraphs and ignoring others. Ikhide is right; you guys are lashing out in all direction but you're failing to do what is absolutely necessary--soul searching.The more you guys crawl out of the woodwork to make these outbursts the more I realize that ASUU is feeling the sting, the backlash it did not anticipate. The criticism is sinking in. This is the first stage of crititical reception--denial and aggressive push back.This may rub you the wrong way but the truth is that I pick what is worth responding to in a post I choose to respond to. I can't respond to every rant. For instance when your student, TA, rants about how education across all levels is rotten, devoting several paragraphs to it, how do you expect me to respond to that except to remind him that he is merely going over familiar facts, preaching to the saved, if you will. I penalize my students for regurgitating familiar facts instead of developing sound analysis and compelling arguments. Why should I then reward a PhD with a response when he is merely repeating what every Nigerian at home and abroad already knows?Further, when he rants about my being abroad and therefore being ignorant of the rot in Nigerian education, how he is at home and in the trenches, bla bla bla, how the heck does one respond to such inanity? If in this age of massive interconnections and instantaneous virtual informational ubiquity your student insists on monopolizing knowledge of Nigeria's well known educational rot and on assigning ignorance and indifference to diaspora Nigerians on account of their location, how should I respond? What is worthy of a response there? You tell me.On pecuniary benefits, you should go back to the archive and read my submissions on that. I have absolutely no problem with pecuniary demands and pursuits and have stated that several times. ASUU is a trade union like any other (even if it sometimes wants to be seen to be more) and should absolutely pursue pecuniary benefits for its members. What I have a problem with is the insistence on the part of ASUU and its members that pecuniary considerations are not ASUU's motive. This is deceptive.Another thing I have a problem with is that following from this originary gesture of deception, ASUU wants to be seen as a reformist organization, not just a trade union fighting for the pecuniary interests of its members. It cannot have it both ways, claiming to be a trade union doing what all trade unions do when it suits it and then claim to be motivated by a reformist agenda when its pecuniary demands draw a backlash from the public. This dual, conflicted identity is one of the union's problems. You cannot claim to be a reformist organization when 1) you will not acquiesce to simple reforms that will hold your members accountable to their students, employers, and the public, and 2) you've become a huge part of the systemic rot you claim you want to reform and you won't even acknowledge that obvious fact.Please go back to the archive and refresh your yourself on our elaborate discussion on the ambiguities and disputes surrounding the 2009 agreements (yes, there were multiple types of agreements as Bolaji's posted documents clearly show) and the 2012 MoU. My position is very clear on that. Bolaji has intervened on that. No need to relitigate the issue. ASUU and the FG are renegotiating on and off as we speak to clarify and work out a mechanism for implementing the agreed principles. Eventually, ASUU will either accept what is being offered or will continue until the government caves, Either way, my point remains: that ASUU is part of the problem, that the strike tactic is now well worn, a magnet for public backlash, and, finally, that recent history has shown that increased funding and remuneration without ASUU taking responsibility and embracing instructional reforms will not result in improved learning and improved quality of graduates, which in my opinion the biggest issue in this whole debate.And on a lighter, final note, so this is the best you can do to rescue your student -:). I'm underwhelmed. I have posed a set of questions to him in an earlier post. Perhaps you can help him answer them. This tag-team is failing because I can't even distinguish between the student and the teacher.Peace to you sir.On Fri, Nov 1, 2013 at 5:17 PM, Diran <diran_bepo@yahoo.com> wrote:
Moses, quite a number of members of this Forum know you and your pedigree more than I do, for now. Coincidentally, I am also Moses, but I don't use the name, lest I be caught in the same web of intellectual shortsightedness as you.The gentleman TA was my student at Ibadan while on his MA in the '90s. (And I won't tell you his full name!). He went to the "Greatest UI"after "Great Ife" as he has mentioned here. But I am relieved that he has adequately taken you up on the issue I would have loved to engage you on, that is, your style - isolating a paragraph or sentence in order to vent your spleen.
But you made another point about 'pecuniary' pursuit. May I ask: what took you across the shores to the United States, not pecuniary pursuit? No wonder BA said you don't read through a post before you respond since ....from the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh?....I stand by what I said in my earlier post. And I agree with TA in his post to you....But in response to the 3 questions BA posed, can we just suggest a roadmap in addition to the 2012 MoU-Roadmap? If the FG knew all along that it cannot meet its obligation, why did it not come out to say just that and PLEAD with ASUU not to take a backward glance at the 2009 Agreement and rather begin from the 2012 MoU which letter and spirit was dictated by no less a person than the incumbent SGF? With the 40bn for Earned Allowances (leaving a balance of 52bn on which no commitment was made) and 100bn+200bn in three tranches over the next three years(?) which brings the total to 700bn for infrastructure, then the issues are almost resolved.The question here: is the immediate installment of 200bn factored into the budget that the President is getting ready to present to NASS in 11 days' time? And in all fairness, it appears as if the President wants to conclude all ceremonies about his mother-in-law's interment before dropping the gavel on the new agreement/proposal!Let us wait till next week and see what the two parties have up their sleeves for the university system.Shalom!'Diran(first born...)
Sent from my iPad"If the gentlemen and ladies on this Forum feel so mo
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