NaijNaira
Lecturers across Nigeria have warned that their patience with the Federal Government is running out after years of unresolved issues and unfulfilled promises – www.naijnaira.com reports.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said its members have sacrificed enough to keep public universities running despite poor treatment from successive administrations.
ASUU President, Christopher Piwuna, during an interview with Channels Television, stressed that “we have, in our view, always demonstrated patience, understanding, and have adopted dialogue to try to address these issues.”
According to the BBC report cited, the union had engaged President Bola Tinubu’s administration from the start but expressed disappointment over what it described as a “very slow response” to their concerns.
Dr. Piwuna noted that the union had held talks with both the former Education Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman, and the current minister, Dr. Tunji Alausa, but lamented that “the machines of the government work extremely slowly.”
On Tuesday, ASUU members staged a nationwide protest to call attention to what they described as the Federal Government’s neglect of their long-standing demands.
Their grievances include unpaid salary arrears, withheld promotions, renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, welfare of retirees, and adequate funding for universities.
The union warned that if the government continues to ignore them, a nationwide strike may be unavoidable.
