By Okhide Em’ya David
Fresh academic calendar may not commence at the Ambrose Ali University ,AAU, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria at the same time with other public Universities, when the nation-wide strike by the Academic staff Union of Universities (ASUU) would have been suspended.
This fact emerged from a resolution of the local chapter of ASUU at the Ivory Tower, as contained in a statement signed by the Union’s Chairperson, Dr Monday Lewis Igbafen, and secretary Dr. Anthony Aizebioje-Coker.
The Statement issued in Benin on Tuesday said AAU- ASUU expresses its strong resolve to continue with the ongoing strike if salaries, including all arears, check-off dues, and other sundry deductions, are not paid up-to-date before the end or suspension of the lingering nationwide strike by the Union in public Universities.
The Union in the statement recalled its several efforts to persuade the University’s Administration and the State Government to pay the salary- arears of more than three months and more than eight months arears of check-off dues as well as other sundry deductions which the Union puts at more than one point three billion Naira.
The Union said their renewed concern is spurred by increasing efforts of Federal Government to meet the demands of ASUU to end the Union’s strike which has crippled academic activities in public universities for more than eight months.
AAU- ASUU restated that key issues which ignited the ongoing strike were “funding for revitalization of Public Universities; earned academic Allowances/earned Allowances ,EAA/EA, salary Shortfall; State Universities and Visitation Panels”
Others are “re-constitution of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Re-negotiation Committee; university transparency and accountability Solution (UTAS); and withheld Salaries as well as non-remittance of Check off Dues.”
The Union, citing its Congress meeting of December 4 2020 where the university’s lecturers unanimously took the resolution to continue with strike, asked “students and parents to hold the University Administration and the State Government responsible for a prolong strike in the University as a result of their indebtedness to workers in non-payment of salaries, check-off dues and other sundry deductions”.
The Union said that ‘enough was enough’ of the suffering the staff of the university were passing through as a result of non-payment of salaries and sundry deductions.
ASUU strongly advised that the salary crisis in the University should, in this period of nation-wide strike, be sorted out to avoid the continual keeping of students of the University at home after the end of the nation-wide strike.
#OED
