No Retreat No Surrender: FG is deceiving
Nigerians — ASUU leader
on october 27, 2013 at 6:40 pm in periscope
*‘We wrote 53 letters to govt in 16months’
*Says N100b mere propaganda, funds not released
Clement Chup is the zonal coordinator of the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Abuja.

Chup, in this interview, hints that there is no end in
sight to the four months old strike by the university
teachers which has kept students at home.
By Laide Akinboade

The Minister of Education recently said ASUU strike
would be over in a few months. What is the
position of ASUU?

I may not be in a position to give you the official
position of ASUU, it is the National President that
would give you the official position, but I want to tell
you that there is a lot of insincerity on the part of
government and, because government has the
machinery of propaganda at their disposal, they
disseminate a lot of falsehood to the general public.
We are not talking about what government wants to
do; what we are talking about is the implementation
of an agreement which was signed by government
and our union. So what government should be
explaining is the modality for the implementation; so
far, government has not come out to say this is what
we will do. Rather, what government is trying to do is
to run away from the agreement and we cannot
accept that because the agreement is binding.
Government must be honorable and responsible and
implement the agreement. To buttress their
insincerity, government would claim, and they have
been telling the general public, that they released
N100 billion two months ago. Up till now that we are
talking, one kobo has not been released to any
university, that is to tell you how insincere
government is. So when they say we would as from
next year make budgetary provision for so so and so
amount, the question we should be asking ourselves
is , what was spelt out in the agreement, which we
are insisting they should implement? They cannot
even give you an answer. In as much as we painfully
went into this strike and, in as much as we are
painfully pursuing this strike, in as much as we want
this strike to end, we cannot just end it without
achieving the purpose for which we went on the
strike. So, as long as government does not show any
sincerity to implement the agreement, the strike
continues.

*Continued*

Can you react to government’s allegation that ASUU
is politicizing the strike?

Well, a thief always thinks that every other person is
a thief; because they believe politics is all about
falsehood, they think others are reasoning like them.
But the question they should be asking is, does ASUU
have basis for going on this strike? Let anyone of
them come out and say no. Does the agreement exist
and did the Federal Government sign the
agreement? The answer is yes.
Why are they refusing to implement it? Like I said
earlier, they have the machinery for propaganda at
their disposal they can disseminate whatever false
information they want and they think everybody is
like them. We are a union of intellectuals we don’t
just come out to say anything or do anything, we
subject it to scrutiny. We cannot become like them; it
was said even by government at the highest
quarters, but you would recall they have not told us
how, what manner of politics has come in and let
Nigerians know. They said ASUU has been politicized.
How? and it has been influenced by the opposition.
The question we should ask is by which opposition.
We look at them as politicians and all this claim is a
tool by the Federal Government to blackmail us
cheaply and we know they cannot succeed.

How many meetings have you had so far with the
Federal Government and are the meetings on-going?

I prefer when you talk about meetings and
discussions because there have been no negotiations
going on but there are discussions, because you
already have something to work with because when
you have an agreement, it is a product of negotiation
and it took us three years and I want to emphasise,
three years, to arrive at that document called the
2009 agreement and, for you to arrive at an
agreement, you must have made concessions. We
have the document, it is for government to honour it.
We would not refuse any invitation by anybody. The
Federal Government has been calling us for
discussions and we have been going. So, as long as
they call us we will go, probably they want to tell us
how they are going to implement the agreement.
It was reported that the Federal Government has
increased the N30 billion it released for earned
allowance to N40 billion. Is this true?
The Federal Government didn’t consult us before
they released the N30 billion. You see the insincerity?
We were discussing how to implement the 2009
agreement and they simply went and released
money to the universities, without any template, to
cause further problems in the universities. So, if they
have decided to add, and it was not part of the
agreement, if they want to give universities award,
they should go ahead.
If somebody wants to give you award, you won’t
reject it, but we know that we have an agreement
and you should implement the agreement and when
you want to implement the agreement, you are
supposed to carry us along.
Government is using this to blackmail us cheaply,
and the next thing they would say is they have
‘released money, why won’t you call off the strike?’
We are not part of it and we have refused to
participate in it and, in all the universities, you can
ask, our members are not participating in the sharing
of that money because it was not part of the
agreement.

Public sympathy on the strike, what is ASUU doing
about this?

We are taking that into consideration. You know one
thing about public sympathy, it can easily change
depending on circumstances, but what we are
looking at is the fact of the matter and the truth on
ground. Now if you look at it, people that are heroes
historically were called rebels, even in the Bible,
Jesus Christ was called a rebel, the people he was
dying for were the ones shouting ‘crucify him’. ASUU
stands for the truth to advance the cause of
education in Nigeria. And also the cause of this
country because by the time government becomes
responsible, it will benefit not only education but also
everybody. It is will be a stepping stone, then people
will realize that government carries some
responsibilities. For now, we are appealing to the
public but we know we are fighting a just cause and
we will continue. There are people who feel ASUU
should call off the strike and then come back for
negotiation?

There are no negotiations going on; so which
negotiation are we going to allow or are we saying we
should allow implementation?
Where was government when we were giving
warnings? This is part of the insincerity by
government we are talking about.

Hallelujah!!! First to comment am going for thanksgiving next sunday. Wait o... S̤̥̈̊o̲̣̥ Govt didn't release that N100bn for disbursement. It is well with my soul! All is well. FG I don tire for una n ASUU sef.

FG should stop paying them their salary

*Continued*

How many times did ASUU warn the Federal
Government?

We wrote 53 letters since February 2012 and each of
the letters was made public. There is none of our
National Executive meetings we would not publish
advertorial in newspapers and warnings constantly.
We even visited some eminent Nigerians and urged
them to talk to the Federal Government to honour
the 2009 agreement.
We told them then we would eventually go on strike
and it would not be good for anybody but they kept
quiet; it is now they realize that there should be
truce, truce for what?
All we want from the Federal Government is to tell
ASUU how they are going to implement the 2009
agreement, that is all. Government cannot run away
from the agreement; we must work based on the
agreement.
But the Federal Government said it cannot
implement some of the things in the agreement? It
said the idea of releasing N400 billion per annum is
not realistic?
Who signed it? Ask them. Looking at the kind of
government we have in this country, only last week,
the government said it was getting ready to bail out
the aviation sector for the second time. They feel this
sector is important because they fly;
But they have forgotten about most Nigerians that
travel by road. Is it not Government money they are
going to use? Where did they get the trillions they
are going to use?
Nigeria is supposed to commence the operation of
national carrier before the end of this year – that is
more of a priority to them. Education is not. You see
the outrageous expenditure for those in government.
Does that give the impression that the nation doesn’t
have money? A few days ago, the Central Bank came
out to tell us that in nine months, the nation made
over N6 trillion and our budget is just over N4 trillion.
They shouldn’t come out with the falsehood that the
nation cannot afford to implement some parts of the
2009 agreement.
Meanwhile, the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation mid-wifed the memorandum of
understanding that they are saying they cannot
release, that is the insincerity we are talking about.

Is there end in sight to the four months old ASUU
strike?

We don’t know, it is not for us to end it. When
government is ready, we are ready.
What specifically does ASUU want the Federal
Government to do?
We don’t want a fresh negotiation. When we wanted
to go on strike, there was referendum in all our
branches and they said until there is substantial
evidence of implementation the 2009 agreement, we
shall not suspend the strike. All we are saying is that
the agreement should be implemented. There is
nothing new about it, it is what we have been saying
since the strike started and even before we went on
strike. So let the Federal Government go on and
implement the 2009 agreement. We cannot abrogate
our agreement – on it we stand.
We are doing our best to give updates but you will
agree with me that we are handicapped and we don’t
have the quantum of resources that Federal
Government has for propaganda. You will agree with
me that is a challenge on its own. That is not to say
that we are not doing our best trying to explain to
Nigerians our situation.

*Source* http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/retreat-surrender-fg-deceiving-nigerians-ASUU-leader/

b3llo: Hallelujah!!! First to comment am going for thanksgiving next sunday. Wait o... S̤̥̈̊o̲̣̥ Govt didn't release that N100bn for disbursement. It is well with my soul! All is well. FG I don tire for una n ASUU sef.

I bet you didn't read a quarter of the whole posts. End Time Tins indeed; when people lying-in-state will not allow you to finish ů̶̲̥я̲ posts before jumping to say "first to comment". Lolz, how many hours have u been waiting to go "first to comment"?

Allohrandy: FG should stop paying them their salary

haba their salaries had been stopped already; the striking union was expectant as well. Hangover of a football match? Pwele...

Allohrandy: FG should stop paying them their salary

Salaries have been stopped since August but it cannot make ASUU to call off the strike. Before going on strike, they already know that the salaries would be stopped so they were prepared for it. Most ASUU members are on one year sabbatical leave in some industries and most have travelled abroad. Those remaining are the ones that have some businesses and are currently giving their businesses 100% attention. The strike is planned to last for three years as was done in Ghana and the members are aware of this. The best thing the FG should do for the sake of the students is to implement the agreement. Remember that when the strike is called off, all salaries owed will be paid in bulk.

Na to enter my Okirika business fulltime be that. It's well with my soul.

Full time hustle continues....yahoo yahoo, any means boiz will get money!

Chai! See gobe!

Well,2015 is on the way.