ASUU Defies ‘No Work, No Pay’ Threat, Plans Strike Over Unmet Demands

• ASUU plans to proceed with a strike unless the federal government meets its demands within the issued ultimatum.

• The union rejects the government’s ‘no work, no pay’ threat.

• The Lagos zone coordinator, Prof. Adelaja Odukoya, emphasized the need for the government to act quickly to prevent the strike.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has reiterated its intention to proceed with a planned strike unless the federal government meets its demands within the ultimatum period issued by the union.

ASUU also emphasized that it cannot be threatened by the government’s statement to implement a ‘no work, no pay’ policy in the event of a strike.

The academic union stated that its members are growing increasingly frustrated and impatient with the government’s ‘insensitivity’ to the challenges faced by public universities and their staff.

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This stance was articulated on Tuesday by the coordinator of the Lagos zone of ASUU, Prof. Adelaja Odukoya, during a press conference at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). The event was attended by all the union branch leaders from the zone.

Prof. Odukoya asserted that the only way to avert the strike is for the federal government to address their demands promptly. His comments came in the wake of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, on Saturday, May 11, and Sunday, May 12, 2024.

He said: “Our union assessed the outcomes of its engagements with the State and Federal governments over the last few months, on matters pertaining to the status of developments around the renegotiated 2009 Agreement, payment of owed salaries and earned academic allowances (EAA), unremitted deductions made by the discredited disruptive and discredited IPPIS, proliferation of universities, and a number of other matters.

“NEC also had a critical review of government policies and actions that had led to the present deteriorated living and working conditions across the country and in our universities particularly.”

Odukoya noted that most of the issues mentioned had been lingering and unaddressed by the government for many years.

On the newly-constituted governing councils for federal universities, Odukoya described them as ‘illegal.’ He argued that instead of constituting new ones, what the government should have done was to recall those dismissed about a year ago to complete their tenures in line with the University Act upon which they were constituted.

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“So, we are not talking about the personalities and composition in the list but the illegality of constituting new councils,” he added.

While restating that ASUU would not back down in the struggle for better public university education in Nigeria, Odukoya called for proper funding of existing public universities, rather than creating new ones.

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