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.
Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/ui-
abu-others-support-suspension-of-ASUU-
strike/

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