ASUU: Usmanu Danfodio Varsity Protests Withheld Salaries

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto (UDUS) on Thursday staged a protest against the withheld salaries by the federal government.

The demonstration commenced university's main campus and ended at the office of the vice-chancellor, Prof. Lawal Bilbis.

Prof. Muhammad Mustapha, the UDUS-ASUU Chairman presented a protest letter to the Vice-Chancellor, who was represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, Prof. Ibrahim Magawata, which he intended to be transferred to Presented Muhammadu Buhari.

The protesters were seen with placards bearing inscriptions such as: “Respect the principles of collective bargaining’’; “we say no to casualisation of intellectual labour’’, and “ASUU is a protector of public institutions’’, among others.

Before the protest, lectures were given on the themes “FG attempts to criminalise strikes in the labour sector’’ and “Casualisation of academic staff’.

Students of the university, led by the President of the Students Union Government (SUG), Malam Shamsudeen Umar joined the lecturers in the protest.

Chanting different songs, the students called for the immediate payment of the withheld salaries of the lecturers, reiterating the risks involves in teaching on empty stomachs. 

The ASUU Chairman said the union called for a special congress and the rally to discuss the prevailing issues and draw attention to themselves. 

He added that the protest was also organised to express dissatisfaction with the government's half-salary payment in October. 

 

“We don’t know why the government took such a decision, but to our knowledge, such a decision violates the rules of engagement for academics,’’ he said.

Mustapha argued that the condition of service for academic staff was different from that of other civil servants.

He added that only the teaching aspect was halted during the eight-month but this was not considered when the teachers were paid on a pro-rata basis.

The Chairman called on the parents, students and concerned Nigerians to reach out to the president to resolve the controversy between ASUU and the Federal government.

Prof. Magawata, after receiving the letter lauded ASUU leaders for their orderliness, assuring them the letter would be transferred to the appropriate destination.