ASUU Strike: FG Cease Payment of Salary.
Striking university unions, including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), have lamented the effect of the no-work-no-pay policy invoked by the Federal Government on them, stating it was meant to weaken their resolve.
The National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke; and SSANU’s National Vice-President, Dr. Abdussobur Salaam revealed this in separate interviews with The PUNCH.
Prof. Osodeke said the last time he received his salary was in February, adding that the government’s strategy of withholding their salaries is meant to weaken their resolve over the union’s demands.
He however said members of the union would remain steadfast even if they will have to do menial jobs or embark on farming to get money adding that three weeks after they had the last meeting with the renegotiation committee, nothing had been heard from the government.
In his words, “We have not heard anything from the government. This is the third week after the meeting with the renegotiation committee headed by Prof. Briggs. We will keep waiting until they respond.
“Ngige believes that our members will become hungry and beg them, but we will not beg them. We are ready to wait for a year, two years, till they respond.
“If it means doing taxi work, selling groundnut, doing farming to feed, we will engage in those ventures but he should be rest assured that his strategy of withholding our salaries will not work.”
Salaam corroborated Prof. Osodeke’s position, saying the government has resolved to use coercive means through salary stoppage.
He said, “The government itself has been delaying the process of negotiations. It seems they are comfortable with allowing the strike to linger long because there has been no serious commitment to any issues so far.
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