The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may start a fresh strike action a few weeks after it ended the notorious eight month long strike by the order of the court.
This is due to developments that have followed the union’s efforts to resume academic activities in Nigeria’s public universities.
On Friday, the University of Jos chapter of ASUU ordered its members to stay at home indefinitely, pending when the federal government pays their withheld salaries.
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On Thursday, Punch reported that the returning lecturers have been offered half salaries by the federal government even though they’ve not been paid since February. The federal government had in the midst of the strike, initiated no-work no-pay policy, but ASUU is believed to have had that resolved through the intervention of the House of Representatives.
The federal government’s decision to pay half salaries seems to have betrayed everything the parties have agreed on besides court order to call off the strike. It has also rolled off a stone that will likely pave way for another strike.
A statement signed by Professor Lazarus Maigoro of the Jos chapter of ASUU said its members have been directed to stay at home (though not on strike) until 50 percent of their salary backlog is cleared.
The statement partly reads: “One of the issues agreed at the meeting was that 50% of the backlog of eight months arrears of our withheld salaries will be paid to our members immediately but as at the time of writing this press release, only 17 days prorated October salary was paid to our members by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
“Having stayed for about nine months running now, our members in the University of Jos considered this an insult to them by the Accountant General of the Federation.
“Is the Accountant General of the Federation actually answerable to the Minister of Labour? So, if today the Minister of Agriculture directs the Accountant General of the Federation to withhold the salaries of the staff of the Agricultural Research Institutes who have been on strike for over a year, will he obey that?
“We wonder why Ngige is keen about withholding the salaries of ASUU members because staff of some Agricultural Research Institutes have been on strike for almost a year but they have been receiving their salaries regularly. Is this policy only for ASUU members?
“We are also aware that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, wrote a memo to the Accountant General asking him to pay our members only from the day we suspended the strike. By this singular act, the Minister of Labour and Employment has casualised the work of the University Lecturers unfortunately.
“This further creates doubts on our minds as to whether the understanding reached with the leadership of the House of Representatives on some of the issues will be implemented at all by those who are saddled with the responsibility of doing so in order to avoid further needless strikes.
“From all indications, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has personalized the matter between him and our union and is on a mission for vendetta.
“It has become crystal clear now that he wasn’t happy that the House of Representatives brokered a truce on some of the issues we went on strike for and has gone behind to undermine it.
“It is also very clear to us now why he shamelessly walked out on the leadership of the House of Representatives at one of the meetings with all stakeholders to the glare of all Nigerians because he never wanted any form of resolution to be reached on the issues being discussed and is the nation.
“In view of the bottleneck placed by Ngige towards paying our members the backlog of our salaries, the congress of ASUU University of Jos met today November 4, 2022 and resolved to stay at home, though not on strike until the backlog of the withheld salaries are paid.
“For the avoidance of doubt, our members are back to work, willing and ready to work but are unable to work. Based on the revised academic calendar for
the 2020/2021 session approved by the senate of the University, lectures should have started already but the challenge of lack of payment of salaries has constrained our members from going to the classroom to teach.
“What this implies is that the students who have resumed already will have to wait indefinitely while we wait for our withheld salaries to be paid to us”.