26th May, 2022
The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said the N34 billion released by the federal government for payment of minimum wage consequential adjustment was not part of the union’s demands.
Osodeke made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ota.
He noted that the federal government had not attended to their demands and the strike will not be called off.
The ASUU President, however, sympathized with the University students over the prolonged strike.
He admitted the students were suffering for Nigeria’s future and education system.
The ASUU president said the students were not being punished but paying the price to ensure that Nigeria had a good education system.
“ASUU sympathizes with them, and we believe that with what is going on if we continue with the struggle, we will have an education system where Nigerian students will have the same lecture rooms as their foreign counterparts,” Osodeke said.
ASUU has been on strike since Feb. 14 over an improved welfare package, better working conditions, and the implementation of various labour agreements signed with the federal government between 2009 and 2020.
The federal government had on Tuesday released N34 billion for the payment of consequential adjustment for the minimum wage of workers in the education system.
However, it is now clear that the N34 billion released will not stop the ongoing strike by ASUU.