The Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has demanded better welfare and payment of outstanding allowances from the Federal government.
The lecturers, who also sought an improved university system, made their demands known during a protest held at the school premises in Abeokuta on Thursday.
The protesters carried several placards with inscriptions during the protest. The inscriptions had demands such as ‘When will ASUU’s removal from IPPIS come to fruition or be implemented’ and ‘FG, fulfil your promise, fund public university’.
The chairman of FUNAAB ASUU, Oluwagbenga Adeleye, said the protest was a solidarity action with the union’s national body, which had been negotiating with the federal government to address its demands.
Mr Adeleye expressed disappointment with the Federal Government’s refusal to address their demands, saying the situation was not helping the university system.
He said, “The federal government is almost pushing us back to the trenches, and this is very unfortunate because we have tried all our best. The union’s national body has done everything within its reach to get the attention of the federal government to improve the state of universities and improve our members’ salaries.
“All the promotion arrears that have been put on hold by the Federal Government, including the academic allowances since last year, have not been paid.
“Our three-and-a-half-months’ withheld salaries have not been paid, even when the job has been done and duly completed. We can no longer keep quiet and behave as if everything is well.”
The ASUU chieftain added, “This protest is also to make Nigerians hear us and for those that have their friends in government to tell them that crisis is looming in the university sector if the Federal Government refuses to listen to us.”
Olusiji Sowande, the national treasurer of ASUU, stated that the government had not met their demands, and the National Executive Council (NEC) had decided on certain actions to be taken.
Sowande emphasised that union members were not strike-mongers but were forced to protest due to the government’s refusal to address the issues.
He appealed to the public and students to prevail on the government to negotiate with them and resolve the outstanding issues.
(NAN)