On Thursday, August 18, 2022, the Academic Staff Union of Universities declared that it would not end its strike unless its members’ salary arrears were paid.
In reaction to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, saying that the Federal Government will not give in to ASUU’s requests for the backlog of pay withheld during the period, the union’s national president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, declared that if the Federal Government did not pay for the “time of strike,” they would not resume teaching.
Recall that on February 14, ASUU began a one-month warning strike. But over the previous six months, the union has repeatedly prolonged the strike.
Later, other organisations shut down public universities across the country, including the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions, and National Association of Academic Technologists.
Adamu had already informed reporters from the State House on Thursday that the government would not pay the lecturers during their strike.
Osodeke responded to the government’s stance by saying, “He’s joking. We won’t teach those students if they don’t pay; we also won’t make up that time. A new session will begin in 2022 or 2023. Exams won’t be given; instead, the entire class will begin anew.
“Lecturers are not doctors that once life is gone, it can’t be brought back. For lecturers, we can still resume where we stopped and still teach them and make up for lost time. But for us, if they fail to pay we won’t make up for the lost time. We won’t go back to fill backlogs; the schools will start a new session, 2022/2023. Examinations and the period lost won’t be taught.”
‘’If they want to do ‘no work no pay,’ we will also do ‘no pay no work.’ If they won’t pay the backlog, we won’t teach the backlog. We are not like other workers. He doesn’t know what he is saying.”
