By ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi has staged a peaceful protest over the Federal Government’s failure to address its plight, saying that it is tired of the government’s “deception”.
The Union called on the Government to avoid another strike which would disrupt academic activities in the Nigerian public universities.
ASUU members, who came out for the peaceful protest on Tuesday, marched from the union’s secretariat at the Yelwa Campus to the main gate.
Some of placards read: “Revert the illegal dissolution of public universities’ governing councils,” “pay our promotion arrears,” release our withheld salaries,” among others.
Speaking to journalists during the protests, the Vice Chairman of the ASUU-ATBU Bauchi Branch, Com. Muhammad Inti, said that the Federal Government has not shown any commitments in addressing the plight of lecturers of Nigerian public universities.
Inti said: “Today, we’re doing a protest at the zonal level. Presently, the Chairpersons of the branches in the zone are holding a press conference at the Gombe State University and in each of the branches, the Vice Chairpersons are leading a protest on our issues with the government.
“Firstly, we’ve been on negotiations for the past 15 years and up to now the negotiations have not seen the light of the day. We have reached agreement but we have not concluded the renegotiations up to now. So, were calling on government to call us back to sit down and conclude the renegotiations that we started a long time ago.
“Secondly, we have our earned allowances that have been approved by the previous government which have already been budgeted but up to now, the implementation has not taken place. Thirdly, we have our three and a half months withheld salaries that are still hanging which we have worked for but we are yet to be paid.
“Fourthly, we have our promotion arrears that has been hanging for several years but we were not paid. Fifthly, government also approved our removal from the IPPIS but up to now, we’re still being paid with IPPIS in the name of new IPPIS. So we totally reject the issue of IPPIS.
“Sixthly, we are against establishment of unfunded universities. Government should concentrate on the universities that hey have and fund them fully so that we will have fund them fully so that they can address the problems of the education sector.”
He called on the Federal Government to quickly address these concerns to”avoid another strike.”
Also speaking, the National Internal Auditor, ASUU, Prof. Adamu Babayo, said that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led administration, which promised not to allow strikes take place has failed to keep to those promises.
“The points were are making is the fact that the government has been given enough time to make good choices and make good the promises they have made. This government came with the notion that there will be no strikes any longer but this one year into this administration and there is nothing coming that is so tangible to write home about.
“We expected that the issue of renegotiation, the issue of IPPIS, the Governing Council, withheld salaries and the issue of proliferation in the universities would have been history. But you see what is going on, there are universities that are running illegally, the Federal Government of Nigeria running an illegal university, universities that don’t even have laws.
“This government has not been up and doing in terms of paying our earned academic allowances that was agreed to be mainstreamed. We have finished our negotiations since May 2021 but we’re almost in June 2024 but the government is not forthcoming with our agreement,” he said.
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