Funmilayo Ogbuagu
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Benin Zone, yesterday saidIt will shut down public universities, if the federal government fails to honor the agreement it had with ASUU in 2009 The Union in a press briefing at the University of Benin,Edo State, said strike actions by the nation’s university lecturers was a last resort to draw government attention to their plights and not intended to derail academic activities.
This was just as the union also emphasized that strike actions are not peculiar to Nigerian Universities, adding that, “in fact, some Universities in London recently went on strike”.
According to the zonal Coordinator of the Benin Zone ASUU, Prof. Fred Esumeh.
” Strike is less frequent in the western world because their government acts…
The zonal Coordinator who described members remuneration as slave wage demanded a new benchmark for the condition of service.
“The Nigerian Universities are no longer attractive to foreign lecturers, including neighboring countries.
“This is due to the prevailing slave wage where the highest-ranked Professor earns less than a thousand dollars monthly”.
Continuing, Esumeh expressed concern over a statement credited to Mr. Sonny Echono, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Education, noting that the statement came even when a draft agreement between both parties was yet to be signed by the government.
The permanent secretary was reported to have said that the federal government agreements with the university lecturers were reached under duress.
