The Alex-Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (AEFUNAI), Ebonyi chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said it would recover the lost semester and session due to the eight-month strike by the union.
The university made this known during a peaceful demonstration against the half-salary payment in October and the withheld salaries by the Federal Government on Wednesday.
Speaking during the protest, the ASUU-AEFUNAI Chairman, Dr Egwu Ogugua said the institution had concluded the first semester that the strike interrupted.
Ogugua added the institution was duty-bound to cover the backlog caused by the strike, noting that AEFUNAI was under enormous pressure to conclude the session before April 2023.
The Chairman also accused the government of implementing policies that would worsen the ongoing situation.
He urged the government to “avoid engaging in any activity that could plunge the nation’s public university system into another needless strike”, calling on education stakeholders to dialogue with the federal government on finding a solution to the issues in the sector.
“Ladies and gentlemen, recall that on October 14, ASUU decided to suspend their eight-month strike following the intervention of Mr Femi Gbajabiamila and the Appeal Court ruling ordering us to go back to work.
“It is important for the world to know that since the said intervention and the court order, the government has not paid lecturers for eight months and decided to casualise intellectuals by prorating our October salaries.
“We, the members of ASUU, AEFUNAI branch, therefore, reject in totality, this alien casualisation of intellectuals, demeaning the centrality of the ivory towers in Nigeria and insulting the sensibilities of the intelligentsia.
“Yes, we were in the trenches for eight months – February 14 to October 14, now that we are back, we are duty-bound to complete teaching for the backlog of academic semesters and sessions lost due to the strike.
“The word ‘lost’ does not entail a permanent loss because most officials of the federal government have consistently believed in the alternative truth that the lost semesters have been lost permanently.
“In AEFUNAI, following the suspension of the strike action, we have almost concluded the remaining first semester of the 2021/2022 academic session.
“We are under enormous pressure to complete the whole session before April and commence the 2022/2023 session.
“We use this opportunity to appeal to well-meaning Nigerians and various stakeholders – religious leaders, traditional rulers, parents, students – to prevail on the government not to further desecrate the sanctity of the future of our children,” Ogugua said.
The ASUU chairman expressed dissatisfaction with the level of priority given to the education sector by the federal government.
He noted that the pro-rata basis of payment would also worsen the ongoing crisis.
Ogugua also noticed "a high degree of deductions" in the recently released November salary, maintaining that the union would not keep mute on the state of the nation's public university system.
AllNews Nigeria however reports that some members of ASUU received their full salaries for November.
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