ASUU Going On Strike? — Education Minister Feigns Ignorance Of Lecturers’ Sit-At-Home

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has feigned ignorance about the declaration of sit-at-home (now called off) by some lecturers over the payment of half salaries to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

This comes as the Federal Government also doubled down on its ‘no work, no pay’ rule with regards to lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Members of ASUU revealed that they were only paid for 18 working days in the month of October, which amounted to the number of days they worked in the month after the union called of its 8-month strike, which began in February.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, stated the FG’s position while responding to questions from state house correspondents after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, had condemned the partial payment, stating that it portrayed the lecturers as daily paid workers or casual workers.

Adamu responded to this, saying, “the strike has been called off and the government has paid them what is due to them. I think that’s the position of the government; that it is not going to pay anyone for work not done and they only did, I think, the number of days that they were paid for.

“How can anybody make a university lecturer a casual worker? If you know the meaning of the casual worker, it is impossible to make a university lecturer a casual worker.”

When Adamu was asked if the FG had any plans in place to prevent further hostilities by the Union, he said he was confused and asked if there was currently any problem or sign of hostility, to which reporters told him that lecturers had planned a work-free-day.

“Oh? Okay, I’m not aware. I’m not aware. That they are going on strike? No, nobody has told me. So, let’s wait till the work-free-day comes, then I’ll find out the details and we’ll discuss, you can ask me then, but at the moment, I’m telling you honestly, I do not know that there is a problem,” he said.

Finally, the Minister was asked to shed light on the claim by Prof Osodeke that ASUU only had an agreement with the Minister of Education and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, not with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Adamu responded saying, “I cannot add any light on something that I did not know.

“And since they said they have no business with the Minister of … Did they show you the agreement? Well, I’m not aware that there’s any agreement between us,” he said.

Recall that the ASUU President had said the partial salary payment contravenes “all known rules of engagement in any contract of employment for academics the world over.”

According to him, ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) were dismayed and noted that paying academics on a “pro-rata” basis is unprecedented in the history of university oriented labour relations. The council further condemned the “attempt to reduce Nigerian scholars to casual workers in its entirety”.