Striking
lecturers in the nation’s public universities on Monday made good their
decision not to return to work as directed by the Federal Government.
The striking teachers also refused to
sign the attendance registers in their respective institutions as
ordered by the government.
They said they were only waiting for the
sack letters the Federal Government threatened to give them if they did
not return to work.
In many of the universities visited by
our correspondents, only administrative offices opened for business
while the lecture rooms were empty. Particularly, lecturers’ offices
remained shut.
Among some of the universities visited
by our correspondents were the University of Lagos, University of
Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Calabar, Nnamdi
Azikwe University, Awka, and the University of Uyo.
Others are Obafemi Awolwo University,
Ile-Ife, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and the Olabisi
Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.
The Supervising Minister of Education,
Nyesom Wike, had urged the striking lecturers to return to work or on
before December 9 or risk being sacked.
But the leadership of ASUU had remained
unfazed by the FG’s directive and threat. They accused the government of
insincerity in the resolution of the face-off.
At the NAU, Awka on Monday, though some
of the lecturers were on campus, they did not teach. The institution’s
Faculty of Social Sciences, for instance, had its classrooms and
laboratories shut.
The hostels were opened but students had yet to return to the campus.
At UI, only a few lecturers were on the campus. They neither taught nor signed the attendance register.
The institution’s chapter of ASUU
earlier in the day had sent a message to its members, urging them to be
calm and resolute in their demands.
The National Treasurer of ASUU, Dr.
Ademola Aremu, said they would have wasted their time and effort if they
caved in and returned to work under threat.
He said, “How can you call off a strike
when there is nothing to show for it? The government is not qualified to
call off the strike. Our union is awaiting the government to state all
it has done in black and white. However, it is a serious insult on us
for the government to be harassing us with sacking threat. We are not
casual workers or labourers. Our research work has been ongoing.”
Also, at UNICAL and at the Cross River
University of Science and Technology, students and their teachers stayed
away from the schools.
The UNICAL ASUU Chairman, Dr. James
Okpiliya, insisted that the Federal Government must meet the lecturers’
demands before the strike could be suspended.
Lecturers also shunned work at OAU even though a few of the students were on the campus.
One of our correspondents observed that
many of the students who returned to campus were those residing within
Ife and its environs.
The Chairman of ASUU at the university,
Prof. Adegbola Akinola, who spoke to one of our correspondents, said
that the strike was still on.
He said, “Our union did not close the
universities, what we did was to withdraw teaching services and they
will remain withdrawn until the government properly documents the
agreement reached with us on November 4, 2013.”
Lectures did not also hold at ABU. The
two campuses of the institution at Samaru and Kongo had only a
negligible human presence as of Monday.
Lecturers’ offices and lecture halls were shut, just as the students did not show up as directed by the government.
ASUU Chairman, Dr. Mohammed Kabir-Aliyu, told journalists that they had yet to call off the action.
The UNIJOS ASUU chapter Chairman, Dr.
David Jangkam, said striking teachers in the university were just
waiting for their sack letters from the Federal Government.
Jangkam said, “We are waiting for their
sack letters. Any government that is toying with education is not worth
its salt. We expect firm commitment in solving the issues, but if the
government is playing to the gallery, it is very unfortunate.”
When our correspondent visited the
various departments, only a few departments had opened registers as
demanded by the governing council.
There were no studies too at UNIUYO, UNIJOS, FUNAAB, LASU and UNILAG as lecturers boycotted classes.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, urged the striking teachers to call off the industrial action.
The President, who spoke at the All
Nigerian Judges Conference organised by the National Judicial Council in
Abuja, on Monday, said the industrial action would prevent the country
from achieving the Vision 2020 target of becoming one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020.
Although the Federal Government had
recently threatened to sack the lecturers for going on strike, Jonathan
noted that ASUU had the right to embark on the industrial action.
He said, “This administration recognises
and respects the right of workers, including the right to embark on
industrial action to press home their demand and have taken concrete
steps to address the grievances of ASUU.
“I therefore use this occasion to call on ASUU to call off its strike.”
“With this Nigeria’s quest to become
one of the world’s 20th largest economies by the year 2020 cannot be
achieved in an atmosphere of industrial disharmony.
“Nigeria’s geopolitical history has been characterised by incessant labour dispute and industrial action.
“While views may differ on the utility
of industrial action as a means of advancing the collective interest of
workers in the polity, it is an unassailable fact that labour and
industrial harmony is sine qua non to the socio-economic development of
any nation, Nigeria inclusive.”
PUNCH NG
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