The Federal University of Lafia branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), protested over non payment of their backlog of Earned Academic Allowances, accumulation of promotion arrears and release of their withheld salaries by the federal government among others demands.
The protest which started at about 10: am began from Faculty of Science down to Faculty of Arts terminated at the University gate at exactly 11:30 am.
However, the protesters who carried placards with various inscriptions such as “fund Nigerian universities, FG. Respect university autonomy, pay our withheld salaries now, address all pending issues to avert strike and Nigeria lecturers are not slaves appealed to the federal government to re-call the Nimi Biggs Renegotiated Draft Agreement for signing and implementation without further delay.
Briefing journalists shortly after the protest that lasted for several hours at the permanent site of the university in Lafia, the branch chairperson, Dr. Sunday Orinya, urged President Bola Tinubu to as a matter of urgency to resume the negotiation of new salary package to forestall another distortion of academic activities across public universities.
Dr. Orinya vowed that as a union, ASUU would not relent in its demanding for improvement in the welfare and conditions of service of its members.
“Our take-home cannot take us home. In this regard, we wish to call on the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to re-call the Nimi Biggs Renegotiated Draft Agreement for signing and implementation without further delay,” he lamented.
He, however, called on president Tinubu to urgently resume the negotiation on the new salary package and conditions of service; funding for revitalization of universities; payment of backlog of Earned Academic Allowances and accumulated promotion arrears; release of their withheld salaries; and the adoption of the University.
He insisted that ASUU would resist any attempt to blackmail the union and derail its patriotic struggle for a productive university system by official propaganda founded on tokenism and crumb-sharing.
Dr. Orinya, the branch chairperson of ASUU federal university of Lafia urged Federal government to ensure that its meet all its demands such as Transparency and Accountability Solutions (UTAS), with concurrent discontinuance of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
“Our members are perturbed by the spirited efforts of government agents to reduce the demands of ASUU to a regime of intermittent payment of watered-down revitalization fund and release of distorted and grossly devalued Earned Academic Allowances (EAA),” he cry out.
While appreciating the concerns expressed by patriotic Nigerians and friends of ASUU in solidarity he vowed to salvage the welfare of its members, its students and public education in general and the Nigerian University System in particular.
He assured all and sundry that ASUU would not spare no efforts in its struggle for repositioning public universities and the transformation of Nigeria.
“It has become imperative for us in the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), FULafia to update Nigerians, the Press and Stakeholders in the Nigeria University System on our ongoing engagements with the Federal Government and the impending nation-wide strike action.
“The import of this Press Conference, therefore, is to underscore, that is call attention to the welfare of our members, our abysmal material conditions as workers and academics and the equally deplorable state of public universities’ infrastructure,” he stated.