STRIKE: ASUU says N34bn released by govt not part of demands

Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has stated that the N34 billion released by the federal govt was not part of the union’s demands.

On Tuesday, the federal government released N34 billion for the payment of consequential adjustments for education workers’ minimum salary.

As a result, he urged the federal government to act quickly, noting that the N34 billion released was not part of their demands.

Osodeke stated this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ota, where he also expressed his sympathies with University students over the Union’s lengthy strike.

Read also :Nigerian govt to pay ASUU, polytechnic lecturers, others N34bn minimum wage arrears

He was reacting to the federal government’s release of N34 billion for the payment of minimum wage consequential adjustments.

Since February 14, the ASUU has been on strike in protest for a better welfare package, better working conditions, and the implementation of several labour agreements struck with the federal government between 2009 and 2020.

He claimed that the pupils’ suffering was detrimental to Nigeria’s future and educational 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 sympathises 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.

The ASUU president claimed there was no need to call off the strike since the federal government failed to meet their demands.

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