We have not suspended strike – ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has debunked speculations that its ongoing strike has been suspended.

It made the clarification via its Twitter handle while reacting to #ASUUResumes trend on Friday.

According to the union, the report claiming that its members have resumed is false.

“Contrary to speculations making the rounds in the social media that the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has called off strike, nothing of such is true.

“If we are going to call off our strike, there is a process that will be followed and nothing of such has been done.”

The President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, had vowed that the union would sustain its ongoing strike action until the Federal Government addresses all its demands.

Ogunyemi said ASUU was asking the Federal Government to implement the 2012 universities’ needs assessment.

He added that it was saddening that Nigerian university lecturers were still on the same salary scale of 2009, stressing that this must be addressed before ASUU would suspend its ongoing strike.

Ogunyemi stated, “Salary issues are still there; we have not fully addressed that. It appears that some forces in government are bent on making our members to suffer by withholding their salaries. But we believe that once we sort out the issues of the Universities’ Transparency and Accountability Solution, other issues will fall in place.

“The 2009 agreement we had with the government stipulates that that agreement will be reviewed every three years, but since then, we have not been able to review the salary scale.

“That is why we are saying that the negotiation we started with the government in 2017 ought to have been completed and with the completion of that negotiation process, a new salary scale should be in place.

“We are insisting that the process is completed before this ongoing strike is suspended among other things.”