By Ada Okafor
The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has insisted that its demands as contained in the FGN-ASUU 2009 agreement and the December 2, 2020 Memorandum of Action are “patriotic.”
This was as the lecturers said ASUU members “remain doomed to earning the same salary for 13 agonising and inflation blighted years.”
The union said some of their demands include: varsities emplacement at the cutting edge of research and innovation and scholars support for scientific and technology development.
Zonal coordinator, ASUU-Benin Zone, Mr. Fred Esumeh, stated this Monday during a media briefing in Benin City, Edo state capital.
The union embarked on industrial action on February 22, to press for its demands.
However, Esumeh said; “Rather than treat the nationalistic call of the union with seriousness, the representatives of government continue to toy with the future of our children and nation, 57 days after they were sent packing from their institutions.
“The resolution of the development of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) and the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement have remain at the level of mere proposals and empty assurances”, he said.
He did not say anything in why the federal government decided to snub them since the embarked on strike about 10 weeks ago.
He also did not speak on the fate of the stranded students and why their members would collect peanuts salary from private universities and yet teach with commitment in those institutions.
The ASUU coordinator called on students, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and workers to join the lecturers and help salvage the country by repositioning the varsities to be globally competitive.
