JUST IN: Another strike looms as Nigerian government pays ASUU half salaries for October
The Nigerian government has reportedly paid lecturers under the umbrella of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU ) for 18 working days in the month of October.
According to reports, a senior member of the ASUU at one of the branches who begged for anonymity disclosed this on Thursday, November 3, 2022, saying the government only paid half of salaries for the month of October.
“Yes, I only received 18 working days salary, that’s what they paid me,” he said.
Recall that on Friday, October 16, 2022, ASUU suspended its eight-month-old strike which had shut down public universities in the country to demand full implementation of agreements it had entered into with the Federal Government a few years ago.
While the strike lingered, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu Adamu, claimed that the government had resolved most of the demands of ASUU. Among the demands addressed, according to the Minister, was the release of N50 billion for the payment of earned allowances for universities’ academic and non-academic and non-academic staff.
However, ASUU refused to return to work following the government’s insistence not to pay the union’s arrears for the strike period.
The Federal Government then dragged the union to the National Industrial Court, asking the court to order the lecturer back to class. The National Industrial Court and subsequently the Court of Appeal ruled that the lecturers must return to the classroom as negotiations continue.
While speaking on what made the union suspend its strike, Osodeke, said the decision was not because issues brought by the lecturers were fully addressed.
