ASUU President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke said the National Executive Council of the Academic Staff Union of Universities will meet soon to discuss the eight‑month salary arrears that have been withheld from members. While a specific date has not yet been set, Osodeke confirmed that a deadline will be chosen and announced to the public. “We (NEC) have met before and reached resolutions, but we will meet again to decide the next step and will inform the public when we do,” he told our correspondent. “We will meet very soon and decide on the issue of withheld salaries. The federal government must pay these debts; it is our right. We have given the government time to improve the situation, but nothing has been done. We are gathering reports from our members and will take action.”
Osodeke lamented the hardship faced by lecturers in Nigerian universities. “Our members are enduring difficult times while performing the same work the government claims they did not do and for which they will not be paid. We are acting in the country’s interest, but this cannot continue indefinitely. We will meet soon and make a proper decision at that meeting,” he added. He noted that there has been no progress in talks between lecturers and the federal government and that the legal battle will continue into February.
Speaking on the same issue, ASUU Chairman of the University of Lagos branch, Dr. Dele Ashiru, expressed shock that the federal government has not shifted its stance. He said the morale of lecturers at his university has become “very low.” “Nothing has changed; the government remains adamant. If those responsible for developing human capacity for Nigeria, Africa, and the world are treated this way, it shows the low priority the authorities place on education,” he remarked. “Leaders who are anti‑intellectual cannot respect or honor intellectualism. ASUU will continue to fight until all monies owed to its members are paid.”
Professor of Sociology at the University of Port Harcourt, Ifeanacho Ikechukwu, told our correspondent that lecturers are enduring severe hardship due to non‑payment of salaries. Some have taken up odd jobs to survive, while the federal government remains steadfast in its demands. “It has been terrible for lecturers. Morale is very low. We endured an unnecessarily prolonged strike because of the government’s ignorance. For eight months we went without salaries,” he said. “We returned to work hoping the government would listen, but the opposite has happened. Many lecturers have adopted coping strategies; we must send our children back to school and buy fuel at current prices.”
Ikechukwu explained that staff are working tirelessly—teaching morning, afternoon and night, administering exams, and grading within two weeks—to regain lost ground. “What reasonable person can say ‘no work, no pay’?” he asked. “The government does not value education; it treats it as a benevolent gesture to gain popularity, now seeing it as an unnecessary burden and cost to the economy. It is not interested in building the future.” Consequently, some lecturers have withdrawn, unable to justify waking up each morning to teach, especially those who view the profession as a calling.
Comments are closed for this story.