The immediate-past president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU), Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, has said fresh industrial action by lecturers of public universities cannot be ruled out in 2023.
Ogunyemi made this disclosure at the weekend, during a live appearance on a television programme.
The academic labeled the Federal Government as insensitive to the plights of lecturers, and noted that it is against justice that people who have been made to work in arrears should not be paid in arrears. When asked whether there won’t be any industrial action in 2023″, Ogunyemi said, “We must understand what triggers strike action. I don’t think anybody can promise you there will be no strike (in 2023)”.
ASUU embarked on strike in February 2022 over demands for improved welfare, and owed earned allowances, amongst others. However, the union was forced to abort its strike by a judgment of the National Industrial Court by mid October after eight months.
The Federal Government paid the lecturers half salaries at the end of October, activating its ‘no-work, no-pay’ policy. This caused an outrage, as the union condemned what it called the casualisation of lecturers; but the government did not rescind its decision.
Ogunyemi, who handed over to the current ASUU president, Emmanuel Osodeke, in May 2021, berated the Federal Government for its pro-rata payment method, saying no ASUU leader can guarantee that the union won’t embark on fresh strike in 2023.
