Tag: ASUU

The Academic Staff Union Of Universities (ASUU) has raised concerns over the high rate of teenage pregnancies in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Benue.

The urged the Federal government to look into the crisis.

ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, made the call during ASUU’s humanitarian outreach to IDP camps at Abagana in Makurdi, the state capital.

Represented by Profs Ralph Ofokwu and Stellamarris Okey, the ASUU president lamented the inability to safely return the IDPs to their villages and homes now being occupied by armed herdsmen. The ASUU officials also brought food and clothing items to the IDPs.

Since January 2018, internally displaced persons across 12 camps in Benue fled their homes after killer herdsmen attacked the Logo and Guma local government areas, amongst other parts of the state.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU has given the federal government idea on how to reduce the suffering Nigerians are experiencing as a result of fuel subsidy.

ASUU urged the Federal Government to rebuild the nation’s refineries immediately.

The union’s National President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, gave the advice on Wednesday at a Maiden Public Lecture and Groundbreaking ceremony of its Secretariat at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University (AE-FUNAI), Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi.

Osodeke explained that the lecture, titled, “Reinventing Nigerian Universities for Research and Development: The ASUU Perspective”, was to educate the public on the importance of research for nation building.

He decried the way the government had spent trillions of naira on repairing the refineries, advising that restoring them would ensure sustainable development not only in the oil industry but in all other sectors.

“Let me tell you, any nation that doesn’t promote education always invites crisis.

“On subsidy removal, we are an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC); so, whatever action they are taking on this nationwide issue, we’ll support them and our next action depends on NLC.

“In fact, we don’t believe in fuel subsidies. There is no subsidy in this country. You cannot be exporting crude oil for the past 70 years and yet you cannot refine the crude oil and sell to your people.

“Sell it to your people at the Nigerian rate and not in dollars. You see, something is wrong. So, there is a need to rebuild our refineries and prioritize the nation’s education for sustainable development,” he added.

Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, immediate past president of the union, who delivered the lecture, called for the full engagement of the lecturers and stakeholders in education for a better country.

Ogunyemi urged federal and state governments to embrace research and prioritize education and improve the quality of life of the citizens.

Prof Sunday Elom, Vice-Chancellor of AE-FUNAI, represented by Prof Ramanus Ejiaga, commended the union for organizing the lecture which he said was timely.

The National Executive Council of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) plans to meet soon to discuss President Muhammadu Buhari’s government’s refusal to pay their members’ eight-month salary arrears.

ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, confirmed the development to the PUNCH on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

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He, however, explained that  the date for the meeting has not been decided by the National Executive Council of the union.

“We (NEC) had met before now and reached resolutions but will meet again to decide on the next step to take, and when we do so, we will let the public know.

“But what I can assure you is that we will meet very soon, and take a decision on this issue of withheld salaries. The FG must pay up these debts. It is our right.

“We have given the government some time to see if there will be any improvement, but they have done nothing. We are collating reports from our members and will take action,” he said.

While lamenting the situation, he said lecturers in Nigerian universities were going through hard times.

“Our members are passing through difficult times while they are doing the same work the FG said they did not do and were not going to be paid for.

“We are doing all these in the interest of the country but this will not be forever. We will certainly meet very soon and take a proper decision at that meeting,” he added.

He said there was no headway on the discussions between the lecturers and the Federal Government, noting that the legal battle between them would continue in February.

Also speaking on the withheld salaries of lecturers, the ASUU Chairman, University of Lagos branch, Dr Dele Ashiru, said he was shocked that the Federal Government had yet to shift ground on the matter.

He also noted that the morale of lecturers at his university had become “very low.”

He said, “As I speak to you now, nothing has changed. Unfortunately, the Federal Government is still adamant. The morale of our members has become so low.

“If the people with the responsibility to develop human capacity for Nigeria, Africa and the world are treated this way, it then shows the premium that those who are governing us place on education.

“It is also not to worry because they cannot give what they don’t have. If we have leaders who are anti-intellectual, they cannot have respect for intellectualism nor honour those who engage in that trade. What is certain is that ASUU will continue to struggle until all monies owed its members are paid.”

Nigerian universities may be closed again this year if the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) does not meet its demands, according to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

This was disclosed by ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke in an interview with The ICIR.

According to the union president, the government had yet to address the issues that led to previous industrial actions which lasted for eight months.

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Following the government’s failure to honor the agreement reached with the lecturers in 2009 and meet other union demands, ASUU went on strike on February 14, 2022.

Following an Appeal Court ruling in favor of the government on September 21, 2022, ordering ASUU to resume work and upholding a similar injunction previously issued by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, the union called off its strike on October 14.

Unlike in the past, when striking workers were paid for the time they were off the job, the government has stated that it will not pay ASUU.

ASUU members received a half-month salary at the end of October, two weeks after they returned to work, which the government described as ‘pro-rata.’

Since then, the union has demanded that the government pay its members’ backlog.

Speaking during the interview on the possibility of another industrial strike, Osodeke said, “It is not possible in this country, except we have a set of leaders that will be elected and will be human beings and think about the system.”

He said ASUU members continued working because they wanted the best for the nation.

The union leader, however, pointed out that his group was waiting for the government to fulfill its promises which led to the suspension of the union’s eight-month strike in 2022.