ASUU: Let the VC's go and teach we are not resuming

                                      National President, ASUU, Nasir Issa-Fagge

PUBLIC university lecturers on Sunday insisted  that they would not return to the classrooms  on Monday (today).

They also accused the Federal Government of insincerity in its bid to resolve its dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

The President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Fagge, confirmed this on Sunday via a Short Message Service  to an enquiry by The PUNCH.

The Federal Government had through the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie,  deferred its earlier ultimatum to the lecturers to resume work on Monday (today) or risk being sacked. The shift  was to enable them to participate in the burial of Prof. Festus Iyayi, a former president of ASUU on Saturday.

Before this , the Supervising  Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, had advised  the striking lecturers to return to work on or before December 4 or face dismissal.

But ASUU had in a news bulletin to its chapters  after its  meeting in Ekpoma, Edo State on Sunday,  said   the Federal Government had not met its  conditions for suspending the over five months’ strike.

When asked by one of our correspondents   if  the members of the union would go back to work today and if they  had confirmed the N200bn the Federal Government claimed to have deposited in a special account at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Fagge simply  replied, “No to both questions.”

ASUU  had in the bulletin insisted  that the government threat  to sack its members would not break the union’s resolve  to pursue its action to a logical conclusion.

A source privy to the meeting, said, “No Jupiter will force us to go and teach until all the agreements are documented. The Federal Government is not sincere. If indeed the authorities have agreed, why will they be afraid to document what has been agreed upon?

“Let the vice-chancellors, who can teach, go and do so. But our members are determined not to sign any attendance register tomorrow (today). The threat does not bother us, as truth will always supercede deception, lies and any form of intimidation.”

Meanwhile, the Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Chris Uyot, on Sunday, said the leadership of the NLC would hold a crucial meeting with the leaders of ASUU on Monday (today).

"punch"