ASUU explains why it hasn’t called off its eight months old strike

ASUU: Obviously, the lingering strike of over 8months doesn’t need explanation especially when students are involved and when they know that their contemporaries in state and private universities are furthering.

Truth be told, students are bittered and are not happy over the situation at hand because their time is of the essence to them and not to be delayed.

Inasmuch as their children are going to school, the other should also go. Another news that came was that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said it will not be calling off its eight months strike until the federal government pays all withheld salaries and fulfills all of the offers made to the union thus far.

In the federal government’s latest offers you ASUU leadership, they have pledged to pay N40 billion as earned allowance and N30 billion for the revitalization of the university system, bringing the total payment to N70 billion.

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The federal government has also agreed to settle the arrears of salaries of the lecturers before December 2020, but after due consultation with the government side.

The federal government has also accepted the demands by ASUU that they are exempted from the integrated payroll and personal information system (IPPIS) pending the approval of their proposed payment system, the university Transparency and Accountability solution (UTAS).

In a chat with The Nation, ASUU President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, said none of the promises have been fulfilled and until they are, the union will not call off the strike that started in March this year.

ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi said none of the promises have been fulfilled and until they are, the union will not call off the strike that started in March this year.

Here’s the statement;

“We are still consulting but certainly before the end of this week, we will report to the minister the findings and feedback from our members. The offers people are talking about are proposals that have timeless and some of these things are expected to have been happening. If those things they promised with the timeline can happen before we conclude our consultation I think the process will go smoother.

A concrete example is the payment of our members’ salaries which have not been paid. If people are not paid I don’t think anybody will be willing to go back to work and other things that have a timeline that we expect the government to implement.

“You don’t expect people, after eight months, to go back to the classrooms on empty stomach. That is where we are.

“Before the end of this new week we will get back to government but we keep on telling them each time they contact us that they (government) should fulfill their own part of the bargain, things that have timelines.”