“No hope in sight to end strike” ASUU tells Students, Parents

 “No hope in sight to end strike” ASUU tells Students, Parents

By Modupe Shodeinde

The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Tuesday has urged students and parents not to hold hope of an end or suspension to the ongoing indefinite strike.

The union’s Abuja Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Theophilus Lagi, who stated this at a briefing at the University of Abuja campus, also advised it’s members to seek alternative means of survival.

According to him, the decision of the union not to suspend the eight-month-old strike was due to alleged lack of commitment on the part of the Federal Government.

Lagi stated that “Today, we wish to let Nigerians, especially our students and parents know that there is no hope in sight to ending or suspending the ASUU strike that has lingered for several months as government is yet to show serious commitment towards addressing our core demands.

“Our members have been advised to seek other legitimate means of survival as the government has not released salaries withheld since February, 2020.’’

The union accused the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr.Chris Ngige, of failing to play an unbiased role in moderating the situation.

According to Lagi, Ngige has shown a disdain for the Nigerian academic and ” is on a war part with ASUU.”

“He has now become the spokespreson to the Accountant General of the Federation and the Ministry of Finance, instead of finding solution for lecturers to get back to work,he is turning the wheel of progress backwards by setting ASUU on a collision course with other pressure groups in the university.”

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Lagi said  Ngige had deliberately misinformed the public and has been deceitful on several occasions.

He said “Ngige told the nation that the striking lecturers had been paid salaries up to date when he knew university lecturers were being owed salaries for between nine and six months for no just cause.

He pointed that in the past few weeks, Ngige has said one thing when he met with the union and a different thing on the same subject in interviews with the media.

He said “this double character of a Minister and a purported negotiator” is undermining the reopening of the universities.

Lagi said the minister while upholding the existence of University Autonomy Law, during a recent budget defense at the National Assembly, had attempted in vain to redefine its provisions.

The Union said it would like to educate the Minister that public universities in Nigeria are creatures of law as each university is established by an Act enacted by the National Assembly.

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