ASUU insists on salary payment during strike
By Frank Ikpefan, Abuja
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday accused the Federal Government of “dehumanising” its members by withholding their salaries while on strike.
It said the non-payment of salaries have reduced the country’s intellectuals to “beggars and nonentities”.
The union said the government has not addressed any of its demands to a “logical conclusion.”
ASUU President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, said in an interview with The Nation: “What we are doing is a patriotic duty to this country because we know that in every society that has ever experienced development, universities have been used as the incubation centres.
“It is like we are missing it in Nigeria and the ruling class are not demonstrating sufficient knowledge of what we are missing.
ASUU: Ngige wrong on varsity autonomy“Every knowledge society is driven by intellectuals, but see what they are doing with intellectuals in Nigeria, reducing them to beggars, reducing them to nonentities.
“When you seize somebody’s salary for eight months or six months or five months, what are you trying to do? You are dehumanising them and you want them to love this country?”
Ogunyemi faulted comments by Labour and Employment Minister, Chris Ngige, that the government had met most of ASUU’s demands, except the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) implementation.
At a meeting between ASUU and Federal Government representatives on October 21, the union asked for N110 billion for the revitalisation of universities.
The union also asked that the N30 billion promised by the government for Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) be paid to only ASUU members.
It demanded the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, the inauguration of visitation panels to universities, among others.
