The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, of insulting its members of the union and criticized him over his attitude towards the ongoing industrial action. The lecturers’ union said that Ngige has resorted to fake news having failed to force its striking members to call off the strike by withholding their salaries for 5 months.
This was made known by the President of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, while appearing on a Channels Television programme, Sunrise Daily, on Thursday.
The comment from ASUU President which marks the latest development in the impasse between the Federal Government and the union over its lingering strike which has kept university students at home since February 14, 2022, is a reaction to the recent statement by Ngige, who said there is no collective bargaining agreement between government and ASUU.
What the ASUU President is saying
Professor Osodeke said, “What the Minister of Labour has done is a complete insult to the character of people like Professor Nimi Briggs, Senator Chris Adighije, and Professor Olu Obafemi.
“The minister instead of looking for how to resolve the problem is busy abusing his colleagues, abusing even the Minister of Education.
“It is so sad that we have gotten to a stage where our children are lamenting at home and the Minister of Labour is busy churning out fake information and misinforming the public, trying to undermine the integrity of ASUU.’’
He challenged Dr Ngige to show Nigerians proof of a claim that his delegation was walked out of a meeting with ASUU members.
What you should know
- ASUU had on February 14, 2022, embarked on a 4-week total and comprehensive strike to press home their unresolved demands on the federal government.
- Some of the lecturers’ demands include funding for the revitalisation of public universities, payment of earned academic allowances, and adoption of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a preferred payment option, instead of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and payment of promotion arrears.
- Others are the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement and the resolution of inconsistencies in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
- ASUU on May 9, further extended its ongoing strike by another 12 weeks, to give the government enough time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues after an extension on March 14 due to an alleged lack of seriousness on the part of the federal government.
- The Federal Government Briggs renegotiation committee, had since April 2022, been meeting with ASUU and other labour unions in the universities, who are all currently on strike due to its dispute with the government and non-resolution of demands of the 2009 agreements signed with the federal government.
- Dr Chris Ngige had yesterday stated that the Federal Government does not have a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with ASUU, noting that the union’s call for the President to sign an agreement which they have reached with the FG is deliberate misinformation pushed out by the ASUU President, Prof. Osodeke
