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By Gabriel Dike
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called on Nigerians, especially parents and students, to hold the Federal Government responsible if another round of strike is declared in the public universities.
The union also said despite a series of promises made by President Bola Tinubu to address their demands, nothing has come out of it till date.
The call was made at a protest rally by the University of Lagos branch of the union, which attracted the support of the university’s students who decried the government’s poor attitude towards the lecturers’ demands.
The protest rally took off after its congress where members spoke in support of the union’s positions on the outstanding demands.
The lecturers and students carried different placards denouncing the government’s insensitivity to their plight. The protest passed through some roads in the campus and made a stopover at the main gate with different executives reeling out their demands and pleading with Nigerians to intervene before it was too late.
Addressing the rally, the branch chairman, Prof. Kayode Adebayo, categorically asked parents and students to blame the government if the union embarks on another strike based on unfulfilled promises.
Prof. Adebayo told the gathering that despite several negotiations, discussions and letters since 2009, the government has remained insensitive to their demands.
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He said: “The struggle is not only for the ASUU, but also for the university system. We no longer trust politicians, they promised and failed to fulfil. Don’t blame the union for another strike, hold the Federal Government responsible.”
The former branch chairman, Dr. Dele Ashiru, said the protest was one of the union’s attempts to draw attention of the government to the numerous challenges facing the university system, and in particular, lecturers, whose take home pay cannot take them home.
“We have written a series of letters to the government, met with the government officials, including the National Assembly, gone on strikes, and for 15 years, the issues have remained unresolved. As of today, the take home pay of a Nigerian professor is about N600,000, which is not up to what lawmakers use for lunch or dinner.
“The Federal Government must address our demands because we will not guarantee academic stability if it fails to implement them. We call on Tinubu’s administration to pay the withheld salaries, and outstanding earned academic allowances, stop payment of our salaries through IPPIS, pay deduction of third party dues and other demands of the union.
“We cannot guarantee smooth academic activities in our various campuses. If another round of strike should take place in the universities, the Federal Government should be held responsible. Our National Executive Council will certainly decide the next line of action.’’
A member of the union, Dr. Michael Oloyede, explained that university lecturers nationwide were facing challenges with many of them struggling to meet the needs of their families, pay school fees and medical bills. “If strike is the language the Federal Government understands, we will give it to them. Lecturers cannot continue to teach with an empty stomach. The government should fulfil the agreement signed with ASUU. The union cannot be oppressed.’’
Some of the students backed the lecturers’ struggle for better working conditions, and called on the government to address the issues in contention before the system is thrown into another strike.
Two 400 level students, Ayomide Madojutimi and Michael Olayewola, decried the insensitive attitude of government to ASUU’s demands since 2009, and pleaded with Tinubu to keep to his promise of resolving the issues in contention to avert another industrial action.
