The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said it is not ready to suspend its ongoing strike until the government pays outstanding three-to-seven months withheld salaries and approves University Transparency and Accountability Solutions (UTAS) among other demands.
ASUU in a statement released by the Zonal Coordinator of the Ibadan Zone, Professor Ade Adejumo, faulted the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, saying he lied that the government was not owing lecturers any salary on a TV broadcast.
According to ASUU, federal government agencies have been footdragging on early resolution of the ongoing strike anchored on implementation of outstanding components of the 2009 FG-ASUU agreement, revitalization funding of Universities, unpaid earned academic allowances, and renegotiation of the agreement for upward review of salaries of lecturers to conform with contemporary reality.
ASUU stated that postcolonial Nigerian governments’ attack on the education sector contributes to the underdevelopment of the nation adding that this is why the government has become a shadow of itself.
“It should be noted that ASUU went on strike as a result of the combination of three inter-related factors: Nigerian governments’ increasing anti-labor policies and the history of sabotage in the education sector and the government’s refusal to honour the agreement reached with the union for revitalization of public sector universities.”
