ASUU STRIKE UPDATE :- Strike continues, says ASUU.. SSANU Set To Join Strike

University teachers said yesterday that their strike will go on — 89 days after it began.
This is in spite of the intervention by
Vice President Namadi Sambo in bringing the lecturers back to the negotiation table.

The teachers are seeking proper funding of education and the payment of their N87 billion earned allowances.

These are part of the 2009 agreement between the teachers and the government. The government has
offered N30 billion for the earned allowances and made available N100billion for projects on the
campuses. The lecturers rejected the offer. The strike has been on since July 1.

The latest position of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the umbrella association of the teachers to go on with the strike, was made known
yesterday by University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter Chairman Dr. Karo Ogbinika, in a statement.

According to him, ASUU last month pulled out of the negotiation with the Federal Government, which was
represented by Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, based on the government’s insincerity and
non-commitment.

He said the Presidency intervened, calling for another round of meetings with Vice President Namadi Sambo last week which, according to ASUU, also
ended in a stalemate.

The union said it was disappointed because it hoped the Presidency’s intervention would dampen the
tension the strike had generated; but, rather, the government was re-echoing the same stance by Suswam, which was why ASUU withdrew from the
negotiation.

ASUU said: “After the meeting on September 19 with the Vice-President, it is clear that the Federal Government is merely paying lip service to education
in Nigeria and deceiving the public on its
commitment to its transformation agenda.

In other related news, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) says it may commence a nationwide strike by Monday if its members are not paid their salaries.

Mr Promise Adewusi, the association’s General Secretary, said this at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday.

He said that the strike was being considered to protest against the stoppage of the salaries of university workers without any justifiable
explanation.

He said that the strike was sequel to a letter written to the Vice-Chancellors of the affected federal universities and Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
Adewusi said that letters were similarly written to the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, the Minister of State for Education, Chief
Nyesom Wike and the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie.

He, however stressed that SSANU members would be directed to proceed on the strike if the government
refused to pay the salaries.
Adewusi advised the vice-chancellors, the SGF and the ministers of labour and education to take immediate steps to remedy the situation.

“Our members in the effected universities have drawn our attention to the non-payment of their August salaries without any justifiable explanations,
even as the month of September has almost drawn to an end.

“We, hereby, place on record that our members had long discharged their obligation as workers for the said month and they, therefore, deserve their pay.
“The non-payment of our members in the universities, when some other federal universities have since paid the August salaries, is viewed by our
members as an act of punishment against them for working and this has made them restive.

“We, therefore, demand that the August salaries of our members in those universities be paid to them
on or before Friday, Sept. 27, 2013.
“Failure to pay by the stipulated date will be regarded as a conclusive act of aggression against the economic rights and interests of our members,”
he said.