The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to hold a protest against the federal government’s part salary payment for October on the “no-work, no-pay” policy after the lecturers called- off the strike on October 17, 2022.
The protest will be organised at the branch levels of the union across public university campuses nationwide and it will take place as a lecture-free day for all lecturers who are members.
According to the Punch report on Sunday, November 13, 2022, a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU confirmed this in an interview, “We are protesting. Branches will choose their own dates; the government needs to understand that we are not casual workers.
“The letter which was addressed to “all stakeholders” noted that the special congress/ protest rally against the casualization of intellectualism in Nigeria will hold on “Tuesday, November 15, 2022, at Julius Berger auditorium.”
The report said that Dele Ashiru, the chapter chairman of ASUU at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) confirmed the development when he affirmed that the branch would protest on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.
Recall that BusinessDay had on November 9, 2022 reported how the lecturers were paid salary in part for the month of October according to when each person reported to work, with some receiving 30 percent, and 40 percent, while others 50 percent in reflection to the number of days they reported to work.
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And that ASUU resolved after its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Monday, November 7, 2022 not to embark on another strike action over the payment of part salaries to its members.
The lecturers decided to wait for Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker of the House of Representatives intervention in its face-off with the government over the 2009 agreement.
Some of the lecturers however did express their displeasure over the ugly development, as one of the female lecturers was reported to have walked into the classroom and announced to the students that she was not there because she was meant to be there, but rather because she had promised the students to be there, and because of the federal government’s attitude towards the payment of lecturers’ salary, she walked out of the class without delivery a lecture.
Another lecturer sent a message to students that read thus, “For those saying ASUU wahala is too much, and by the time we start another strike next week, see my October salary N29,269.69.”
A student of UNILAG disclosed to BusinessDay that the development is a worrisome one because should ASUU stick to its plan to embark on another strike it will spell doom to both students and parents who have committed a lot in terms of finance and other material resources to get started again.
The student who spoke anonymously said the school’s examination timetable is already, and this protest might scuttle the whole process.
“See, we preparing for our exams, and now they are talking of protest. How can that be, I hope they won’t scuttle whole plans. Some of us just paid for the accommodation off campus, what will then happen if they should go on strike again,” he asked.
