The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nasarawa State University Keffi (NSUK) branch, has demanded that the state government pay its lecturers their earned allowance of over N600 million or risk the school embarking on a strike, News About Nigeria reports.
The chairman of ASUU, Professor Samuel Alu, made the call during a peaceful protest in Keffi, Nasarawa State, on Wednesday.
He noted that the lecturers have been owed their earned allowance for a long time now, adding that failure to pay up by the state government will result in a breakdown of industrial harmony.
He disclosed that the agreement was reached with the union in 2019, but the federal and state governments have refused to commence with the payment.
Addressing journalists, Alu explained that public universities nationwide have continued to suffer infrastructure and manpower deficits due to inadequate attention.
He called on the federal and state governments to address their demands, including the release of funds for the revitalization of public universities, the payment of earned academic allowances, and the indiscriminate proliferation of universities across the country.
The union vowed that if the state government fails within the stipulated time, it will embark on an indefinite industrial action.
Academic and official activities were, however, temporarily disrupted at the Nasarawa State University Keffi following the peaceful protest by lecturers of the institution.
It was gathered that the lecturers, who came out in large numbers, converged on the university’s assembly hall and marched to the main gate, displaying placards with comments such as “Save the Ivory Towers from Total Collapse,” “We Say No to Enslavement; Education is a right that must be protected,” and “Revitalization is Key to the Survival of the Nigerian Universities.”
