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.
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