The Senate has expressed disappointment over the Federal Government’s continued failure to honour agreements reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), vowing to intervene decisively to end the union’s ongoing two-week warning strike.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Senator Mohammed Dandutse, said the Upper Chamber would convene a joint meeting involving ASUU, the Ministry of Education, and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to find a lasting resolution to the crisis.
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“You cannot teach when your stomach is empty,” Dandutse said, stressing that the Senate would not allow Nigeria’s public university system to deteriorate further.
Senator Olubiyi Fadeyi also supported ASUU’s demands, describing them as legitimate and condemning what he termed the government’s persistent disregard for its commitments to the union.
ASUU President, Professor Chris Piwuna, lamented the poor welfare of university lecturers, stating that Nigerian professors remain among the lowest-paid in Africa—earning less than ₦500,000 monthly compared to their counterparts in South Africa and Ghana who earn ₦6 million and ₦1.5 million respectively.
He urged the Federal Government to immediately pay the withheld three-and-a-half months’ salaries, settle unremitted pension deductions, and release the ₦50 billion revitalization fund approved by the Senate.
Piwuna maintained that ASUU was ready to suspend the strike once the government demonstrates sincerity in fulfilling its promises. He also criticized an alleged attempt by the FCT Minister to encroach on the University of Abuja’s land, calling it an affront to academic development.
