BAYELSA – The Academic Staff Union of Universities has firmly stated that they will proceed with the planned two-week nationwide warning strike if the Federal Government does not address their demands by October 13.
The ASUU has firmly stated that they will proceed with the planned two-week nationwide warning strike if the Federal Government does not address their demands by October 13 this year.
During the Orientation/Leadership Training focused on ‘Understanding the Principles of the Union’ held at the ASUU Niger Delta University Branch in Amassoma, Bayelsa State, ASUU President Chris Piwuna made this statement.
“The warning strike has been issued and we are not meeting to discuss that again as a union because our position has been taken, and by midnight of Monday, we will embark on a two-week warning strike, after which we will meet after the expiration to decide when to begin an indefinite and comprehensive strike action.
“The issues still remain the same, re-negotiation of our 2009 documents is still lingering over the years, and we want Nigerians to know that we have been talking and the strike action is coming after several years of negotiations and we are not just jumping on a strike.
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“We have given the government enough time on this particular issue; just imagine they gave us three weeks to get back to them and never did till this moment. Nigerians must always look at the actions of the government that have always pushed us to such actions.
“We have told the government that we do not support loans in such a depressed economy. In an economy where the unemployment rate is high, families can’t feed themselves, so where do they want them to repay the loan?
“If they truly want to give them money, they should come out clean. Where are the jobs that will enable them to repay the loans? If the money is meant to make the universities run better, they should be given as grants, not loans.
“Recently, some of the reports coming from NELFUND make us think we are right, when an organisation that is less than a year old and has less than a hundred staff is spending N14 billion on personnel, when even this university that has over 1,000 staff can’t spend that amount in a year, including building of structures,” he said.