By
Emmanuel I. Archibong, PhD

I heard an admonition sometime ago where it was said: hunger doesn't kill a person. It can only make your head swell and by extension bigger. The bigger then the head, the more intelligent it will be.

Academic staff in Federal Universities and their families have experienced and are still experiencing hunger first hand some for 9months and counting.

All these while, the FG looked away forgetting that ASUU was on strike and her members salaries withheld.

Then suddenly, the #ENDSARS protests started and like a flash, the government remembered to resume negotiation with ASUU. The whole argument about calling off the strike now because of national interests according to the Minister of Labour is balderdash.

Did the government thought about national interests when they subjected academic staff and their families to untold hunger and deprivation as a result of withholding their salaries having rejected the ploy to enrol in IPPIS?

Why has the FG suddenly realised that the protesting folks are supposed to be in NYSC camps and the university campuses? In whose interests was it when the government decided to use hunger as a weapon to force compliance on academic staff to enrol in IPPIS?

As the FG government team is awaiting the resumed talk with the leadership of ASUU on Wednesday the 21st of October, 2020, ASUU must in plain terms reject what the FG have offered outrightly.

We need more than just a paltry sum of 30 and 20 billion naira for EAA and revitalisation. We need more than just the payment of our withheld salaries. We need just more than government accepting UTAS. We need our EAA paid upto date and afterwards, incorporated into our salaries on a monthly basis. We need publication allowances paid monthly into our salaries. We need conference allowances paid monthly into our salaries. We need a renegotiation of our salaries so that we can begin to earn a living wage comparable with academics in other African countries. These are the least demands we need for the strike to be called off so that other issues in the 2009 agreement can be resolved too going forward.

Academics in Federal Universities have gone way beyond hunger and are no longer afraid of its biting effect. The strike must continue until these basic demands are met.

Aluta Continua.

The writer is an academic Philosopher who employ the tools of criticism and analysis in making sense of social, political, cultural, educational and governance reality. He can be reached via:
emmymark2jr@gmail.com

Its very clear you and your gang of selfish lecturers only care about yourselves and how to get unwarranted allowances while at the same time claiming your incessant strikes are for the benefit of the innocent students.

Hold the government by the jugular. They want the protests to end by all means. Get them to settle ASUU once and for all so that strike in our public universities will be dead and buried.

Weh done sir.

Hmmm

Everyone sounds right in his own right.

listening from both sides of the tables seems correct, cnt pick sides but I jus pray the two parties do the right thing and call a truce on dis matter no matter how long because it would be stupid to hear another ASUU strike again after they call this one off

paulolee:
listening from both sides of the tables seems correct, cnt pick sides but I jus pray the two parties do the right thing and call a truce on dis matter no matter how long because it would be stupid to hear another ASUU strike again after they call this one off

My thoughts exactly.
After this present strike, there should be no strike again in our public universities.

I know it has always been for the selfish demands of this lecturers. Not even use the money to revitalize and upgrade the academic system.

ppl wey de fight for their pockets.Them too de embezzle infrastructural upgrade fund.

Filosofa:



My thoughts exactly.
After this present strike, there should be no strike again in our public universities.

This one is something i feel may not be possible.but let's watch and see.
There was a time i said " ASUU should use this opportunity very well and make sure ALL their demands are met".
Covid dn scatter 2020 already. Let them strike once and for all until their Demands are met. then when we resume, we MOVE!!!