ASUU Strike Update : Let ASUU Write Us, Says NUC

Here is another update on ASUU Strike Update 2013 — The executive secretary of the National Universities Commission, Professor Julius Okojie said that ASUU was supposed to write the government in respect of the offer made to them at a meeting about three weeks ago.

He disclosed that ASUU had told federal government that it would get back with response after its National Executive Meeting (NEC)

His words: “ We have no official report from them. They should write to us, the last time government met with ASUU. We have been meeting regularly even on Sunday. About three weeks ago, there was an offer made to them by the government.

They said they were going to their NEC, what we expected from them is that they should have come to us and tell us what the result. As far as I’m concerned if they are on strike we don’t know. They should write to us.”

ASSU had on Monday began a nationwide strike over the federal government’s refusal to implement an agreement between it and the union over unpaid entitlements.

ASUU National President, Dr. Nasir Fagge, said: “We are embarking on an indefinite strike nationwide because Federal Government reneged on the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed with ASUU in 2009 to pay lecturers their EARN allowances.”

Fagge spoke on Monday at the University of Lagos, after the union’s National Executive Council, NEC, meeting at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.

According to ASUU, the Federal Government in 2009 signed an agreement to pay each lecturer N12,500 per month as EARN allowance, which it has not done since then.

“The allowances include excess work load, high carriage of student per lecturer, responsibility allowance, ranging from administrative responsibility borne by lectures for example, as Head of Department, Deans of Faculties, Examination Officers, Course Advisers and Supervision of thesis,” the union chairman said.

“The highest any lecture gets from this allowance is N12,500 per month. The truth is that since 2009 no lecturer has been paid any allowance apart from his salary,” he added.