ASUU Dismisses ‘No Work, No Pay’ Threat By Govt, Insists On Strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has insisted that it will proceed with its planned strike as scheduled unless the federal government meets its demand within the time frame of the ultimatum issued by the union.

ASUU also insisted that it can’t be threatened by the statement of the government to adopt a ‘no work, no pay’ rule in the event of a strike action.

According to the academic union, its members are tired and fast losing patience over the government’s ‘insensitivity’ to the plight of its members and that of the public universities.

This position was made known on Tuesday by the coordinator of the Lagos zone of ASUU, Prof. Adelaja Odukoya, while addressing newsmen at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), with all the union branch leaders from the zone in attendance.

He submitted that the only thing that could stop the union from going on strike is for the federal government to do the needful fast.

He spoke against the backdrop of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the Obafemi Awołowo University, Ile-Ife, between Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May 2024.

He said: “Our union assessed the outcomes of its engagements with the State and Federal governments over the last few months, on matters pertaining to the status of developments around the renegotiated 2009 Agreement, payment of owed salaries and earned academic allowances (EAA), unremitted deductions made by the discredited disruptive and discredited IPPIS, proliferation of universities, and a number of other matters.

“NEC also had a critical review of government policies and actions that had led to the present deteriorated living and working conditions across the country and in our universities particularly.”

Odukoya noted that most of the issues mentioned had been lingering and unaddressed by the government for many years.

On the newly-constituted governing councils for federal universities, Odukoya described them as ‘illegal.’ He argued that instead of constituting new ones, what the government should have done was to recall those dismissed about a year ago to complete their tenures in line with the University Act upon which they were constituted.

“So, we are not talking about the personalities and composition in the list but the illegality of constituting new councils,” he added.

While restating that ASUU would not back down in the struggle for better public university education in Nigeria, Odukoya called for proper funding of existing public universities, rather than creating new ones.