ASUU Rebuff FG "No Work No Pay Threat"

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said the Federal Government’s threat to implement its ‘no-work, no-pay’ policy cannot stop its ongoing strike.

The union described the policy as an “obsolete familiar threat”.

In a statement yesterday, titled: ASUU: On Government’s Threat of No-Work, No-Pay, by its Chairman of the University of Ibadan (UI) chapter, Dr Olusegun Ajiboye, said members of the union have resolved to pursue the strike.

The statement said ASUU members are using the action to defend the integrity of the university system in Nigeriaand save it from universal mockery.

Dr Ajiboye said the minimum funding requirement for public universities this year is N500 billion and not N100 billion, as being touted by the Federal Government.

The union leader added that anything short of this is unacceptable to the union.

He said the Federal Government’s N100 billion offer showed that the government “is just begging the matter”, because the money is like a drop in the ocean.

According to him, no blackmail will break the ongoing strike.

“The academics remain resolute on this struggle ,” Dr Ajiboye said.

On government’s N100 billion fund for the universities, the union leader noted that “this is just the beginning; the government is just starting”.

He added: “Going by the ASUU agreement of 2009 and theMemorandum of Agreement (MoU) signed by the Federal Government in January 2013, the minimum funding requirement for the universities as at 2013 is N500 billionand not N100 billion. Only the provision of this will meet the immediate needs of addressing the rot and decay in the public universities. Anything short of this is not acceptable to the union.

“Therefore, rather than engage in cheap blackmail and unworkable threat, the government should address the issues on the table.”