The Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU-NAU) protested on Tuesday over what it called the Nigerian government’s insensitivity to its members' plights and the poor condition of public universities in the country.
The protesting lecturers are calling on the federal government not to allow their patience to burn out with its continued delay in concluding the re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement and its subsequent signing into law. They carried placards with inscriptions like, ‘Pay us Fairly,’ ‘Stop Suffocating University Lecturers,’ ‘Support Quality Education,’ ‘FG, honour Alh. Yayale Ahmed Agreement,’ among others, and chanted protest songs as they moved around campus.
The lecturers moved to the institution's administrative block after a short demonstration along the Enugu-Awka expressway. There, the university's management addressed them. The ASUU-NAU chairperson, Comrade Innocent Nnubia, recalled how three months ago, ASUU met at its national secretariat in Abuja and warned against complacency in addressing issues affecting its members.
Some of the issues include:
- The conclusion of the re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement.
- The immediate payment of three and a half months' withheld salaries of members.
- The sustainable funding of public universities.
- And the revitalization of public universities.
Comrade Innocent Nnubia also listed the following as pending issues:
- The victimization of ASUU members in LASU, KSU (now Prince Abubakar Audu University), and FUTO.
- The outstanding 25-35% salary arrears.
- Promotion arrears of over four years and third-party deductions.
He regretted that the government has failed to fulfil most of its pledges. According to him, the protest is to alert the government and the public that time is running out, and ASUU should not be held responsible if there is a breakdown of industrial harmony on its campuses.
“The 2009 Agreement was due for renewal in 2012, but here we are still on the same salary after 16 years. Is this not a show of shame? In 2009, a professor earned about $3,000 in salary, but today, it is less than $400. This is pitiable and unacceptable," he said.
“We demand the immediate release of our three-and-a-half-month salaries held by the federal government during the 2022 national strike. The government cannot beat a child and urge him/her not to cry.
The government instigated the strike by failing to honour agreements entered into with the union in various Memoranda of Understanding and Action. Moreover, our members have long completed all the outstanding academic work and demand their payments.
“Also, as a survival strategy, some of our members embarked on thrift contributions of part of their salaries payable to some cooperative societies. These contributions were requested to be deducted from the source and remitted to the cooperative societies.
“It is disturbing that the federal government, after the deductions, failed to remit the same to the cooperative societies. This, to us, is a deliberate act to strangulate/frustrate members of the union; hence, ASUU-NAU demands the immediate remittance of these monies to the respective cooperative societies.
Nnubia noted that the government cannot continue with its delay tactics forever, adding that ASUU has reached its limits in patience and can no longer guarantee industrial harmony as its members are tired, hungry, and weak.
