The Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Institutions (ASUU) has warned Nigerians of a new crisis at the country’s universities, which it claims would be worse than any that have come before.
To persuade the federal government to pay its members across the nation their withheld eight months’ salary, ASUU solicited the assistance of stakeholders and well-meaning Nigerians.
At a special congress of the local branch held at the main auditorium of the institution, Prof. Moyosore Ajao, the chairman of ASUU, University of Ilorin branch, sounded the alarm.
Before retiring to the auditorium to address the newsmen on “Casualisation of Intellectual Workers In Nigeria: Prelude To Our Response,” the university’s lecturers held a protest of solidarity on campus.
Though we have resumed work at our university, he declared, “The government’s ignoble decision to withhold our salaries for the past eight months based on its misguided “No Work, No Pay” policy is poised to lead to a new crisis.
“In the upcoming days, the union would contemplate enforcing the ‘No Pay, No Work’ policy and would abandon the works that have accrued during those periods during which the government has fraudulently claimed, through Chris Ngige, that our members have not worked,” the union said.
The public is once again “placed on notice that a new crisis, which would surpass all previous ones, is impending in Nigerian colleges, saying the union members would not continue to do free labor,” the speaker stated.
In reaction to the crass immorality of the Nigerian government, he continued, “Our union and its members should not be held accountable for the effects that their actions would have on all parties.
As a law-abiding union, we have complied with the court’s order to return to our positions of duty while the main issue is being heard. To our utter dismay, the administration agreed to pay our members’ half salary for October 2022 after the strike was called off. This trend is unacceptable, and our union would oppose it.
Academics are not temp workers, that is a truth. Only temporary employees receive prorated compensation.
