FG criticises ASUU and upholds no-work, no-pay

The Academic Staff Union University has come under fire from the Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Nanah Opiah, due to the ongoing standoff between the union and the Federal Government.

Despite the Federal Government's best efforts to address the concerns presented by ASUU, Opiah stated they have been determined about ending the strike, which has already lasted more than 200 days and started on February 14, 2022.

The "no work, no pay" policy is still in effect, according to the minister who stated when he visited Federal University in Lokoja, Kogi State.

The Federal Government cannot pay lecturers for labour that they did not perform, he declared. The strike has succeeded in making parents and students' lives more difficult while continuing to cast a negative light on the nation.

He said that the federal government had made significant investments in the infrastructure of all higher education institutions nationwide.

He instructed FUL Vice Chancellor Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi to urge lecturers to return to work and added that their protracted absence had harmed rather than helped Nigerian students' futures.

"Those who believe that a lack of infrastructure is one of the causes of their strike ought to reconsider. Mr. Vice Chancellor, please allow me to take this occasion to urge you and our lecturers to resume work because our kids are suffering.

"Our nation's standing is deteriorating. These lecturers are also parents to some of our students, which makes our parents unhappy. Contrary to what they believe, some of us have children attending universities in Nigeria, and those kids are also struggling.

"However, if we go on strike indefinitely, our kids won't go to school at all. We have no reason to do it. There is nothing that went wrong that we can't fix via conversation. I am aware that practically all of the issues raised by ASUU for negotiation with the federal government have been settled.

"Aside from that, ASUU is demanding payment for the entire six-month period during which they missed work. The Federal Government has responded that they are unable to compensate you for the days you did not work. Let's use the common sense approach of no labour, no compensation once. Only a thief would go to a restaurant where he didn't work.

Therefore, lecturers should return to the classroom to beg, appeal, and renegotiate because this situation is no longer amusing if there should be any appeal for the federal government to do otherwise.