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Lecturers get ‘half-month pay’ as first salary after ASUU strike

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The federal government has been called out by some members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for not paying their full salaries after resuming from an 8-months strike they embarked on.

Some members of the union who spoke to TheCable, said despite the suspension of the strike, the government is yet to pay them full salaries. Moyosore Ajao, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) ASUU chairman told the publication;

“I’m yet to get mine but some of us who have received theirs got half salaries for October. We don’t know why they have to pay us half salary.”

A lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), who did not want to be named, also confirmed that he did not get full salary. He also it wasn’t clear what month the pay was for.

The lecturer said;

“What I got is not exactly half of my salary. But then, it’s not up to my usual salary. Basically, they didn’t pay full salary, that’s the right word for it. The month was also not specified.”

Also speaking to Punch, a lecturer claimed that some Professors received N121,000 as salaries in October.

The lecturer said;

“Some professors got an alert of N121,000. We are still waiting for an official statement from the government as to why they decided to pay us half salaries, though unconfirmed reports state that the decision came from the top.”

Confirming the development, ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke said they are shocked over the payment made.

Osodeke also revealed the National Executive Council of the union will be meeting over the half-salaries paid to lecturers.

He said;

“Half salaries were paid, no reasons were given whatsoever. We learnt that Ngige wrote the office of the Accountant General and Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system and told them to only pay us for the period when we called off the strike.

“We heard there was a letter to that effect but we haven’t gotten it yet. We are going to summon a meeting.”

Lifestyle

Court order is major reason we suspended strike – ASUU president

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President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Emmanuel Osodeke, has said that lecturers in the country called off their 8-month strike due to court order obtained by the federal government.

Osodeke who said this during an interview on Channels TV’s ‘Sunday Politics’, further averred that they are hoping the government will do the needful now the strike has been suspended.

He said;

“The issues have not been fully resolved and no agreement has been signed. So, we are resuming because we are a law abiding body and we don’t want to break the law.

We are also hoping that the intervention of the speaker, as promised by him, will resolve these problems in a very short time.”

When asked if this means the lecturers are not happy to be resuming, Osodeke said: “Definitely.

“In trade dispute, especially one involving university academics, the best option is negotiation and then you end it within a very short time,” he said.

“But the minister of labour believes that the best way is to force them to class. It’s so sad, but because of the interest of the Nigerian students, their parents, and the speaker, our members will teach.

“Any country that plays with education creates room for insecurity.

“We want the next administration to follow the trend of neighbouring countries and allocate not less than 16 percent of the budget to education. When this is done, these problems will be sorted out. Our children will go to school effortlessly.”

Lifestyle

10 lecturers have died since ASUU strike began — UNICAL

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University of Calabar Branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities has said that ten of its academic staff members have died since the union began its strike on February 14, 2022.

This was revealed that ASUU UNICAL Branch Chairman, Dr John Edor, on Thursday September 29.

Though he did not reveal what led to their death, Edor however disclosed their names and the courses they taught.

The names listed are; Prof. E. O. Udosen, Biochemistry; Dr. Mrs. Iquo Takon, Microbiology; Prof. G. U. Ntamu, Religious and Cultural Studies; Prof. Mrs. Judith Otu, Sociology; Prof. Victor Ibianwu, Physics, Prof. Offiong Abia, History and International Studies; Prof. Catherine Agbor, Arts Education; Dr. Augustine Bassey, Sociology; Dr. Ita Esuabana, Mathematics and Dr. Chinyere Okam, Theatre and Media Studies.

Lifestyle

ASUU strike: ‘Why hold Buhari by the neck’ – Presidency queries lecturers

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The Presidency has queried the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, over the lingering strike.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, wondered why ASUU was holding the President by the neck over an agreement not signed by his government.

Shehu recalled that the agreement in contention was signed in 2009 by the then Federal Government.

Featuring on Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today, Shehu said Buhari’s government cannot meet their demand 100 percent.

He disclosed that the Federal Government needs to pay attention to other sectors of the country.

According to Shehu, the military needs weapons to fight terrorists, hence government can’t pay all its attention on ASUU alone.

He said: “As for ASUU, the president has the right to appeal on behalf of Nigerians, this is six months or more of the ongoing strike.

“Is it right for anyone to insist on taking 100 percent of all of those grievances that they have? Don’t forget that what is the cause of this problem is a 2009 agreement with the then government that they have no capacity to deliver upon and have passed it from one government to another.

“So, we might ask the question, why is Buhari being held by the neck? What happened in the past? Why didn’t they strangle those past administrations on these matters? That’s our worries.

“The Federal Government has put a lot of substance on the table. Will the Federal Government yield to 100 percent of ASUU demands, I want say.

“There are also other sectors of the economy yearning for attention, the military need weapons, guns to fight terrorists. We have to look into other sectors of the economy.

“The Minister of State for Education has assured that we are about to turn the corner and all these issues are about to be resolved. We have reached this level in the past and my prayer is that it would soon end.

“They have family members and leaders within the community, so they should prevail on them to resume classes and those elements that have not being resolved can be talked over.”

This is coming when Buhari urged the academic body to consider the future of students and call off the lingering industrial action.

Lifestyle

ASUU strike can end tomorrow – Lecturers give update

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said their industrial action will end immediately if the federal government addresses their concerns.

ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, stated this while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday night.

Osodeke claimed an agreement had been reached with the government, but it has not been signed.

According to him, ASUU’s insistence on using their own generated payment platform, University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS), is a key demand.

“As far as ASUU is concerned, the strike can end tomorrow.

“We have finished the negotiation. If the government calls us now to come and sign the agreement, we will be there tomorrow.

“Let the government tell us they have finished testing the UTAS and we have accepted it, then we will call off the strike.

“When will they sign the agreement? When will they accept UTAS? Those are the two questions we should ask the Nigerian government,” Osodeke said.

Lifestyle

FedPoly, Bauchi dismisses two lecturers, expels 30 students

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Two randy lecturers of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, Musa Baba Abubakar and Adebusoye Michael Sunday who allegedly harassed two female students sexually have been indicted and dismissed by the Governing Council of the Polytechnic.

The Council arising from its regular meeting held on Saturday through the early morning of Sunday approved the immediate dismissal from its services of the two lecturers of the institution who were accused of involvement in sexual harassment of two female students as reported by the School management.

The affected lecturers are Musa Baba Abubakar of the General Studies Department and Adebusoye Michael Sunday of Nutrition and Dietetics Development who were found culpable by the various investigative committees instituted by the Institution since the cases were reported.

While briefing Journalists on Sunday after the regular meeting of the Council held at the Council Conference hall on Saturday presided over by the Chairman, Barr. Isaac Abbot Ogbobula, the Rector, Arch Sunusi Waziri Gumau explained that the Council studied the reports of the various committees before arriving at the final decision on the cases.

He said that the delay in arriving at the decision was not deliberate as insinuated by a section of the media saying that, “we don’t have anything to hide, we only followed due process in accordance with the extant laws of the Institution. I wonder what the hue was all about in the media”.

Sunusi Gumau further said that, “We set up various committees as soon as we received the formal complaints from the victims to ensure that justice was done. We have presented our findings to the Governing Council which during its regular meeting, approved the immediate dismissal of the affected staff”.

He added that, “they will be served with their letters of dismissal by Monday morning, the institution will copy the relevant security agencies and other concerned authorities. With that, the matter has been put to final rest as far as the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi is concerned, they seized to be staff of the institution forthwith”.

The Rector also said that 30 students have been expelled from the Polytechnic for various offences ranging from exams malpractices and falsification of results to gain admission into the various programs of the institution.

He explained that 16 students were expelled for falsification of their certification which were used to gain admitted into the institution saying that thorough investigation was carried out to ascertain the claims of the affected students while 14 others were found guilty of indulging in examination malpractices.

The Rector said that the affected students were tried and found guilty by the Academic Board of the Polytechnic and was presented to the Governing Council for note taking because it was purely the responsibility of the Academic Board to do that.

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