Christopher Piwuna, a professor of Medicine and Consultant Psychiatrist at the University of Jos, is the new president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Emmanuel Osodeke, the immediate past president of ASUU, confirmed Piwuna’s election in a telephone chat with BusinessDay. Piwuna was a former dean of students affairs at the University of Jos, Plateau State, and defeated Adamu Babayo, a professor from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi State, Northeast Nigeria, to emerge as ASUU’s president, in an election held during the union’s 23rd national delegates congress concluded on Monday, May 12, at the University of Benin. Osodeke, the immediate past president of ASUU, told a BusinessDay correspondent that Piwuna has taken over the leadership mantle. However, the lecturers’ union has yet to officially release a statement on the new development. Piwuna is not only “much more progressive but very disciplined, exposed, and a comrade in its true sense,” a source said. Piwuna got his first degree in Medicine (MBBS) from the University of Jos in 2000 and his master’s certificate from the University of Malta, Malta, an island country located in Southern Europe. Coincidentally, his assumption of office comes amid widespread speculations of industrial action following issues surrounding the sharing formula of the earned academic allowances that was released recently by the federal government, and brain drain challenges, among others.
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