Strike:FG Refuse To Pay Our Salaries Since February-ASUU

Strike: FG Refuse To Pay Our Salaries Since February-ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), said no university lecturer has been paid since February.

Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, its President, accused the Federal Government [FG] of using hunger as a tool to force the striking lecturers back to work.

He made the remarks while appearing on Channels Sunrise Daily.

ASUU went on strike on February 14 in response to the Federal Government’s alleged failure to fully implement the Memorandum of Action signed in 2020.

The government implemented the ‘no work, no pay’ policy on March 27 in accordance with Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act.

The government’s strong-arm tactics, according to Osodeke, will not work.

He believes the Federal Government was mistaken in believing that depriving lecturers of their salaries would force them back into the classrooms.

Osodeke said: “Our salaries have been withheld. This is the sixth month our salaries have been withheld.

“They thought that if they hold our salaries for two or three months we will come begging and say ‘please allow us to go back to work.“But as a union of intellectuals, we have grown beyond that.

You can’t use the force of hunger to pull our members back, which is exactly what the government is doing.”

Also yesterday, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, stated that the government was awaiting the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu report,’s on the ASUU strike.

Ngige spoke with reporters in Abuja during the Joint Workshop on International Labour Standards and Dispute Resolutions, which was co-hosted by the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

He stated: “We are waiting for the Minister of Education to brief the government side. He (Adamu) has not done so.”

Ngige responded to the alleged disparity in the Nimi Briggs Committee, saying, “It is a local education committee.” They are refusing to send (their report) to me because I did not set them up.

“The Minister of Education set up the committee and such a committee will have the input of government technical advisers.

“Because the issues are of wages, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment will be there as an observer.

“We are the only observers to be sure that things are working well in the methods, and spirit of collective bargaining to produce an agreement.”

On Monday, ASUU announced a four-week strike extension.