The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Tuesday, told Union members to immediately seek alternative means of survival.
The Union’s Abuja chapter, in a press conference held at the University of Abuja campus, expressed anger over the non-payment of salaries to its members by the Federal Government, hinted that students and parents should not expect Universities to resume soon.
The Coordinator of ASUU (Abuja Zone), during the press briefing, said members were “relentlessly determined to continue with the ongoing strike until our demands are met.”
ASUU said, “Our members have been advised to seek other legitimate means of survival as the government has not released salaries withheld since February 2020.
“Today, we wish to let Nigerians especially our students and parents know that there is no hope in sight to ending or suspending the ASUU strike that has lingered for several months as Government is yet to show serious commitment towards addressing our core demands”
“One need not be a psychologist to understand the behavior and recent utterances of the Minister of Labor and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige. The Minister has clearly shown his disdain for Nigerian academics and has failed to play the role of an unbiased umpire in moderating the imbroglio”
“In the past few weeks, for instance, Ngige has said one thing when he met with the union and a different thing on the same subject in interviews with the media.
The statement further stated “He has now become the spokesperson to the accountant general of the federation and the ministry of finance, instead of finding the solution for lecturers to get back to work, he is turning the wheel of progress backward by setting ASUU on a collision course with other pressure groups in the university. Clearly, Dr. Ngige is on a war part with ASUU,”
ASUU and the Federal Government had been in a long drawn battle over the strike action that began on March 23, 2020. Both parties yet to reach a resolution after a series of negotiations.
