Gbajabiamila Deceived Us To Call Off Strike ― ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has accused the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, of deception by asking the union to call off its eight-month-old strike in October with a written promise that the government would, without delay; offset in full the arrears of salaries members were owed.

President of ASUU, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, gave this position on Tuesday in an exclusive interview with Tribune Online when he was asked to reflect on the speaker’s intervention and then vice versa on the current situation of their issues with the Federal Government.

He said ASUU had a soft spot for the speaker and that was why the union engaged him in a discussion as a welcome intervention to resolve the stalemate between it and the Federal Government.

He added that Gbajabiamila even presented a paper signed by him to ASUU leadership indicating the seriousness of the government to pay in full the eight-month salaries its members were owed and also urgently attend to some other matters and specified how to address them.

He said part of these concerns were the peculiarities in the controversial Universities Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) and the involvement of the house committee on budget allocation, among others.

FG Yet To Pay, We Don’t Have Transport Fares To Go To Work – ASUU President

ASUU President, Osodeke and his team

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, has said members of the body may find it difficult to get to their respective schools on Monday as they do not have “money for transport”

He disclosed this on Sunday while speaking about matters arising from the suspension of the ASUU strike on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

Prof Osodeke said unlike those days when lecturers lived in staff quarters very close to campuses, most lecturers now live far away from the school campuses as most schools could not provide accommodation for them.

He said since they have not been paid for eight months, it would be difficult for them to afford the transport fares to their respective schools to teach students.

"In schools those days, every lecturer lives on campus and you can trek to your office but these days, many lecturers live 20, 30 kilometres to their offices. How will they pay for their transport to work?"

Confirming the suspension of the strike, he said “we suspended the strike hoping that the government will do the needful and by tomorrow, if the universities are open, hopefully, the lecturers will go back to work."

He added that, “We are resuming because we are obeying an industrial court judgement because the issues have not been fully resolved, no agreement signed."

Final-Year Medical Student Who Turned Food Vendor During Eight-Month Strike By University Lecturers, Dies

Final year medical Student who turned food Vendor

A student of Usmanu Dan-fodiyo University Sokoto, Usman Abubakar-Rimi, who ventured into food selling business due to the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has died.

Abubakar-Rimi, a Medicine and Surgery final year student, opened a food outlet and Indomie joint in the Diplomat area in Sokoto.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the medical student died on Wednesday after a brief illness.

Chairman of 21st Century Enterprenuer Hub, Umar Idris, a close associate of the deceased confirmed this on Saturday.

Idris said the deceased had been buried according to Islamic rites in his hometown, Rimi, in Rimi Local Government Area of Katsina State.

He described the deceased as a humble person and a dedicated student and entrepreneur.

According to him, the deceased was Katsina State Coordinator of the 21st Century Entrepreneurs Hub, and actively participated in coordinating Global Entrepreneurship activities in 2019 and 2020.

Looking at this closely, could the ASUU Strike be blamed for this? Or it was his destiny?