UI, ABU, Others Support Suspension Of ASUU Strike

More units of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities, including the University of
Ibadan and Ahmadu Bello University
chapters, have voted for the suspension
of the strike by the union during chapter
congresses held nationwide.
The union met with a Federal Government
team led by President Goodluck Jonathan
last Tuesday in Abuja.
Government has promised to inject
N220bn yearly into the public universities
for the next five years.
The ASUU leadership, after briefing the
zonal coordinators on the offer, had
directed the local branches to organise
congress meetings between Friday last
week and Tuesday (today).
This is to enable all the lecturers to make
input into the action the union would take
after its NEC meeting on Thursday.
As at press time on Monday, 20 of the 28
chapters that had concluded their
meetings supported the suspension of the
strike, while the remaining eight preferred
that the varsity teachers pressed on with
the strike.
The teachers in the University of Abuja,
for instance, supported the suspension of
the strike but listed conditions that must
be met by the Federal Government.
A source at the meeting on Monday said
the congress demanded that the withheld
three months salaries of the lecturers
must be paid.
“Members also demanded for
commitment on funding. We also want
assurance from government that no
lecturer will be victimised on the account
of participating in the strike. We also
asked that the template for sharing the
earned allowance should be prepared
within the next two weeks,” the source
added.
The conditions were the same for
Nasarawa State University, which voted
for continuation of the strike.
Chairman of ASUU in the school, Dr.
Theophilus Lagi, told our correspondent
after the congress that as far as his
members were concerned the strike
should continue.
He said, “There are certain grey areas that
must be cleared. The ‘no work no pay’
policy must be sorted out. Government
must pay lecturers the arrears.
“We also need evidence that the N200bn
that government promised to release this
year is in the central bank. We are not
going to suspend the strike until the
money is there and available for sourcing.
That is the position of the congress.
“Nobody trusts government. They have
been making promises since 2009 and
nothing has been implemented except the
N30bn earned allowances.
“Secondly, the 2009 agreement is due for
review; nothing has been said about that.
Lecturers have been denied salary for
three months, those monies must be
paid.”
Among the universities that supported
that the strike be called off are Ahmadu
Bello University, Zaria; Federal University
of Technology, Minna; University of
Lagos; University of Ibadan; University of
Calabar; University of Port-Harcourt;
Federal University of Technology, Akure;
Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto;
and Ekiti State University.
The list also include the Federal University
of Technology, Owerri; Delta State
University; Bayero University Kano; Imo
State University; Federal University of
Agriculture, Abeokuta; and Olabisi
Onabanjo University, among others.
On the other hand, majority of lecturers
at the University of Benin; and University
of Jos wanted the strike to continue.
However, in the Bauchi zone of the union,
five universities voted for continuation of
the state strike, while the remaining three
threw their weight against the
continuation of the strike.