The striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) vow not to resume work despite the federal government’s ultimatum that they should do so by today or risk losing their jobs.
The federal government had last week shifted the deadline for the resumption of the teachers, who have been on strike since July from last Wednesday to today to allow members bury Professor Festus Iyayi.
Though some institutions like the University of Jos, University of Port Harcourt, University of Abuja and a few others have all boycotted the union and asked student to resume.
The union has remained adamant, insisting that its members would not go back to work, despite the threat as the government is not towing the line that would resolve the crisis.
The union again added that it would not resume work until its demands as agreed with President Goodluck Jonathan at the November 4 meeting are all met.
A member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of ASUU who does not want his name mentioned, said to newsmen.
“Yes, a lot of our members voted that the strike should be called off, only if those conditions are met. We have insisted that the agreement be produced into a binding document. Why is that a big deal if the government is serious? That Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a tradition anytime a strike is to be called off, between the two parties. This is a document that would be followed by the two parties. Nobody has done that, no instruction has been given.
“Finally, we asked that the non-victimisation clause be added to the MoU. Whenever we undergo any strike, we expect that our members should retrieve whatever they lost during any strike. That has been the practice throughout history. We do not want another strike in the next few months concerning the salary arrears of all academic staff in the universities. That clause should be in the MoU.”
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe had said that the N200 billion infrastructure revitalisation fund ASUU is demanding, had already been deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
