ASUU Strike: Influential Governor Announces Resumption of State Varsity, Vows to Pay Lecturer’s Salaries
- The Nasarawa government has announced the resumption of academic activities in its state varsity
- Governor Abdullahi Sule himself made the announcement during an executive council meeting
- He stated that his administration has the financial power to foot the bills of lecturers and non-teaching staff of the university
Nasarawa, Lafia - Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state has announced that the state university in Keffi, the state capital will be resuming academic activities in due course, Channels TV online reported.
This announcement was made known on Wednesday, August 31 by the governor during a meeting with his executive council.
Source: Twitter
Governor Sule’s announcement is coming on the heels of the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike which commenced on February, 14.
ASUU has been at loggerheads with the federal government following a series of breakdowns in negotiation for salary raise, funds for infrastructural development of universities that are members, and a host of other reforms.
PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app!
The longevity of the strike has led some state universities to pull out of the union with the likes of Lagos state university (LASU), Ekiti state university (EKSU), and now the Nasarawa state university.
We will pay lecturer’s salaries – Gov Sule
Meanwhile, the governor during the announcement stated that the Nasarawa state government is ready to pay the salaries of lecturers.
The governor also confirmed that the non-teaching unions in the university have also agreed to the conditions put forward by the state and have agreed to resume activities as well.
Daily Nigerian reported that Governor Sule confirmed that available funds are available to cater for the monetary demands of lecturers and other staff of the university.
He said:
“One of the conditions they gave to us, the most important condition, is to ensure that we take over the full payment of salaries of all the staff, so that they don’t have to use their IGR.
“As far as we are concerned, we looked at our finances and we strongly believe that, based on the cash flow we have available to us and also because of the importance we attach to education, we should be able to start that from this month.”
The governor also revealed that payment will commence in earnest as the state is looking toward paying the university staff between Thursday and Friday.
ASUU strike: EKSU dumps union, announces re-opening date
Similarly, Ekiti State University (EKSU) joined the list of schools that has relinquished its membership in ASUU.
The management of EKSU urged students of the institution to resume academic activities on Monday, August 29.
According to a circular by EKSU, the decision was taken by members in key positions of the institution.
Reports: Mass resignation of lecturers hit major universities
Reports have confirmed that lecturers in major public universities have begun to tender their resignations.
It was gathered that their resignation is tied to the ongoing ASUU strike and the non-payment of salary.
Top universities like UNILAG, FUTA, OAU, and UNN tops the list of institutions that has lost their best academic dons to the ASUU strike.
Source: Legit.ng
