ASUU Warns Of Impending Strike Action Over Outstanding Arrears, Others

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Obafemi Awolowo University chapter on Tuesday, staged a peaceful protest across the university warning the federal government of looming industrial action if the government failed to pay salary arrears owed its members.

The union members marched through the campus, bearing placards with various inscriptions such as, “IPPIS is a scam,” “Pay all our outstanding promotion arrears,” “FG give our children proper education,” among others.

The protest which was led by the ASUU Akure Zone Coordinator, Dr Adeola Egbetokun, and the OAU branch chairman, Prof. Anthony Odiwe, the lecturers also asked the Federal Government to return to the negotiating table with the union.

It listed funding for the revitalisation of public universities, based on the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2012, 2013, and the MoA of 2017; renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement; release of the unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical, adjunct, etc. due to IPPIS; payment of promotion arrears and the payment of earned allowance as some of its demands.

Also, the union demanded a stop to the proliferation of public universities, implementation of the reports of the visitation panels, illegal dissolution of governing councils in federal and state universities, implementation of University Transparency and Accountability Solution in place of IPPIS, and release of third-party deductions as other demands.

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The lecturers also demanded the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians before the current agitations would lead to an industrial action.

Addressing journalists during the protest, Odiwe said the release of four months out of pending months owed the lecturers by the Federal Government was like a Greek gift, as the third-party deductions taken from their salaries were not remitted to the appropriate quarters.

He said even though the union expressed a desire for negotiation, the Federal Government refused to initiate talks with ASUU over pending unmet agreements between the parties.

“We are today compelled to call the attention of Nigerians and the government to the challenges that have been working against the development and progress of university education in the country. It is important to state that all the issues that had always forced our members to embark on strike are still unattended till now,” he said.

He added, “The union was very open and hopeful at the beginning that the government of President Bola Tinubu would address the issues, especially with the posture and utterances of M President that strike will be a thing of the past in our system.

“Unfortunately, the same government has refused to relate with us officially in the last year. Given this, the union has decided to take this matter to the public space again, so that Nigerians will be properly informed.”

Speaking in a similar vein, Egbetokun decried the poor working conditions in the nation’s universities and called for an immediate favourable response from the Federal Government to avert industrial crises.