Kogi varsity ASUU threatens strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Kogi State University says it will resume an industrial action suspended in May over unpaid allowances of N1bn to its members. The Acting Chairman of union, Dr. Gbenga Aina, told newsmen in Anyigba on Saturday that the lecturers had resolved to go on strike on Sept. 1, if the state government did not honour an earlier agreement with the union on the payment. He accused the state government of reneging on the “gentleman’s agreement” reached with the union before the suspension of the strike in May. He said the development had compelled the lecturers to issue the ultimatum to resume the industrial action. The chairman said the promise to pay the debt in “Earned Academic Allowances”, was contained in the 2009 agreement reached between the union and the state government. He said the agreement was for government to offset the debt in monthly installments of N25m which it had failed to do. ASUU, according to him, has resolved that if there was no positive response from the government at the end of August, the union will go on strike. “As a union, our objective is to see that the standard of education in the institution does not fall below requirements and also ensure that the rights of our members are not trampled upon. “We are parents too and we do not like it when we go on strike,” he said. The chairman said the union arrived at the decision after a brainstorming session to find an avenue for soft landing but was left with no choice. But the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof .Hassan Isah, had reportedly said the inability to implement the agreement was not the management’s or the government’s fault, but that of the union. He said the computed Earned Academic Allowances submitted to the management was forwarded to the government in January after confirming its accuracy. He, nonetheless, appealed to the lecturers to go back to the negotiating table with the government rather than embarking on a strike.