Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke has characterized the late Prof. Bene Madunagu as a leader who battled against oppression and injustice.
This was said by Osodeke at a wake and burial conference held in memory of the late botany professor and the first female chairman of the University of Calabar chapter of the ASUU.
In 1978, Professor Madunagu was summarily removed as a lecturer for her involvement in union activities; however, she was reinstated in 1981. She passed away on November 26, 2024, at the age of 77.
According to the president of ASUU, Madunagu made the most of her life to make a positive difference in the lives of those around her.
He claimed that for Nigeria to have a significant influence on the welfare of its people, it needed leaders who were service-oriented, like the late Madunagu.
Osodeke was concerned that the nation’s political elite lacked the motivation to lead with selflessness.
“This is unfair; their sole goal is to amass fortune; they have no interest in providing the public with unselfish service.
Even young people no longer believe in hard effort because it has gotten so horrible. He claimed that the only reason people want government posts is to embezzle public funds.
He said that the country’s policymakers’ attention to education is inadequate and ridiculous.
The Ministry of Finance receives almost N72 billion annually, while we provide N2 billion to a federal institution for overhead costs. This is ridiculous and will not benefit the education sector.
He declared, “We must reclaim our nation because this is one of the injustices and bad policies that the late Madunagu fought against.”
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Prof. Eka Braide, who also spoke at the ceremony, stated that despite apparent obstacles, the late professor made a significant contribution to the fight for a better society.
Madunagu left behind a lasting legacy in the fight for social justice and gender equality, according to Braide, the University of Cross River’s first vice chancellor.
