Asuu Strike update: Our Effort would have been wasted if.....- Asuu

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.”

Asuu Strike Update:Asuu Insists Strike Continues, Accused Fg Of Insincerity

PUBLIC university lecturers on Sunday insisted  that they would not return to the classrooms  on Monday (today).

They also accused the Federal Government of insincerity in its bid to resolve its dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

The President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Fagge, confirmed this on Sunday via a Short Message Service  to an enquiry by The PUNCH.

The Federal Government had through the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie,  deferred its earlier ultimatum to the lecturers to resume work on Monday (today) or risk being sacked. The shift  was to enable them to participate in the burial of Prof. Festus Iyayi, a former president of ASUU on Saturday.

Before this , the Supervising  Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, had advised  the striking lecturers to return to work on or before December 4 or face dismissal.

But ASUU had in a news bulletin to its chapters  after its  meeting in Ekpoma, Edo State on Sunday,  said   the Federal Government had not met its  conditions for suspending the over five months’ strike.

When asked by one of our correspondents   if  the members of the union would go back to work today and if they  had confirmed the N200bn the Federal Government claimed to have deposited in a special account at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Fagge simply  replied, “No to both questions.”

ASUU  had in the bulletin insisted  that the government threat  to sack its members would not break the union’s resolve  to pursue its action to a logical conclusion.

A source privy to the meeting, said, “No Jupiter will force us to go and teach until all the agreements are documented. The Federal Government is not sincere. If indeed the authorities have agreed, why will they be afraid to document what has been agreed upon?

“Let the vice-chancellors, who can teach, go and do so. But our members are determined not to sign any attendance register tomorrow (today). The threat does not bother us, as truth will always supercede deception, lies and any form of intimidation.”

The ASUU National Treasurer, Dr. Ademola Aremu, who also spoke with  one of our correspondents, confirmed that the lecturers would not return to work until the  government met their demands.

He said, “Our position has not changed because we are still on strike. When we met President Goodluck Jonathan, we had a number of agreements but when the Presidency communicated to us, we noticed some gaps. We have written to the government on our observations but up till now, it has not responded.

“The only response from government representatives was the accusation against us that we are making new demands. This was after the letter we wrote to the government was exposed to the whole world.

“ASUU is not asking for anything new;  what we are saying is that government should perfect the documentation binding the agreement we had with it. We know the agreement we had with the government and we will stand by it.”

Aremu also accused the government of inconsistency with the shift in ultimatum, noting that it was playing politics with the death of    Iyayi.

He added, “The government did not play any role in the burial of Iyayi, who died in the struggle. The Federal Government would have been more responsive instead of threatening our members with sacking. The military used this system and it did not work. Why will it work in a democratic environment? I don’t think any right thinking government will use threat to achieve peace.”

On government’s claim that it was ready to pay salaries owed the striking teachers who returned to work, Aremu said the decision was a  part of  the  ploy not to make things work in the education sector.

He added, “This government does not want things to work at all. We wrote to the government that we noticed some gaps but instead of writing us back to clear issues, it began to use threat as a weapon. I don’t think anyone who is worth the certificate he is using as a lecturer will panic because of four months’ salaries. You only treat casual workers in such way and not people with intellectual endowment. ASUU members are not casual workers so  the  position of   Okojie will not shake us.”

The Chairman of the University of Abuja chapter, Dr. Clement Chup, also described the threat as “an empty one.”

He said, “We are still waiting for the government to respond to our letter; until that is done, the strike continues.

“When the December 4 deadline was given, I said ‘I dey laugh because I knew it would not work.’ Now that they have extended it, ‘I still dey laugh’ because it will still not work. Because you (Federal Government) are not ready to honour  an agreement and you will begin to threaten people with sacking;    it doesn’t work that way.”

His Nasarawa State University, Keffi, counterpart, Dr. Theophilus Lagi, said, “It is only the National Executive Council of the ASUU that could take the decision to suspend the strike.”

He said lecturers in the school would stay away from the classrooms since  the NEC of ASUU  had yet to suspend the strike.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe and   Okojie ,  had last Tuesday, claimed that the Federal Government  had deposited the N200bn promised as funding to universities in an account with the CBN.

The amount is for renewal of infrastructure in the nation’s public universities.

But the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Education, Simeon Nwakaudu, expressed optimism that many lecturers would resume work today.

He said, “By tomorrow (today), we will know where we go from there. Let us wait and see what happens. Many ASUU members have contacted their respective vice-chancellors and indicated their readiness to work.”

Meanwhile, the Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Chris Uyot, on Sunday, said the leadership of the NLC would hold a crucial meeting with the leaders of ASUU on Monday (today).

Asuu Strike Update:Monday Ultimatum, Asuu Dares FG Again, Says Strike Continues

It was uncertain on Saturday whether the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria Universities would call off its five-month-old strike, despite the Federal Government’s Monday ultimatum.

There were speculations that the university lecturers would suspend the strike after the burial ceremony for an ex-ASUU President, Prof. Festus Iyayi, who was killed in an accident involving the Kogi State governor’s convoy.

However, sources in the union who spoke to our correspondents on Saturday insisted that the strike continues.

The Chairman, ASUU, University of Benin, Dr. Tony Monye-Emina said, “The strike has not been called off. The authority (of the institution) is following government’s directive; we are not shifting our stand. It is not a local strike.

“It is not true we are calling off the strike. How can we be holding a meeting tonight? The burial is going on and it continues tomorrow (today).”

Also, ASUU in Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, vowed not to obey government’s order that lecturers should return to classroom on Monday.

The Chairman, ASUU, OOU chapter, Dr. Nasir Adesola said the lecturers would not succumb to threats by government to sack them.

Adesola, who is also the South-West Coordinator, ASUU, stressed that since the lecturers did not go on strike in the first instance because of government, they would not return to work by coercion from government.

He stated that the lecturers would only go back to the classroom when the government had met their demands.

“We didn’t go on strike because of government order. The reasons for which we embarked on the strike have not been discharged by the government. Those orders of government are just part of executive recklessness. We are not returning to work on Monday,” Adesola said.

Similarly, the ASUU Chairman in Enugu State University of Technology, Prof. Gab Agu, said lecturers would not resume on Monday. He said it was a rumour that the union would call of the strike.

He stated that the National Executive Council of ASUU would meet and agree before the strike could be called off.

Same with ASUU in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where the Chairman, Dr. Ifeanyi Abada, said only the ASUU NEC could announce the suspension of the strike.

The Governing Council of the University of Ibadan had on Friday, based on the directives of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of Federal Universities and the National Universities Commission, said the institution would be re-opened on January 4, 2014.

In the official bulletin of the university, which was signed by its Registrar and Secretary to the Council, Mr. Olujimi Olukoya, the council explained that the re-opening became necessary in view of the consideration of all matters relating to the on-going ASUU strike, at its recent meeting.

Credit: PUNCH.