The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUSS, Obafemi Awolowo University OAU Ile Ife branch has insisted it will not suspend its current strike until the institution’s authority paid earned allowance of its members.
The protest was led by the leadership of the Union from Akure zone, Benin zone and Lagos zone.
Addressing the congress, coordinator of the Akure zone, Professor Olusayo Olu-Olu explained that only OAU was yet to pay the earned allowance for its staff since it was released by the Federal government.
Professor Olu-Olu said the major contention was the attempt by the OAU management to use other modalities to effect, particularly to non-members of ASUU as against other universities that had paid since December last year.
Also speaking, the Chairman of ASUU, OAU chapter, Dr Adeola Egbetokun decried the attempt by the OAU management to manipulate the Union over the EAA allowance, saying OAU remained the only University attempting to inject new modalities of payment.
Dr Egbetokun maintained that (ASUU) fought for the money and should lead on how the money should be disbursed.
“That is how it happens in every university, I don’t know why OAU case is different. This is not the first time that such a thing like this will be happening.”
“We use to disburse EAA based on the template that is submitted by ASUU and not any group. If they have the capacity, they should demand theirs, this is our money. ASUU share must be disbursed to us.
On the 20th of January we held a meeting with the audit unit where they said they are going to take our computation for verification, since that day, there has not been any official communication from the management on the outcome of the audit.”
The ASUU chairman said the Union’s template was submitted to the institution management for audit verification and if anything was wrong in what was submitted, the authority should communicate the union formally.
Similarly, the coordinator of the Lagos zone of ASUU, Dr Laja Odukoya urged OAU chapter of ASUU to report the vice Chancellor to the minister of Education as an administrator promoting industrial unrest on his Campus.
Reacting to the development, the University authority through its Spokesperson, Mr Abiodun Olarewaju denied the allegation of it refused to pay the Earned Allowance but argued that there were two Academic bodies on the campus and it would be wrong for the management to use the template designed by only one of the Unions when the other one did not agree to it.
Mr Olarewaju said once the two unions reached a position on the template to use, the University would release their money to them.
Radio Nigeria went through faculties of Social Sciences, Law, Administration, Arts and sciences where students were met in numbers discussing the matter.
While some students were playing table tennis at their faculty basement, others were listening and dancing to hip hop music.
However, lectures went on in a few classes.
One of the lecturers who did not want to mention told Radio Nigeria that he was not a member of ASUSS, but that of Conference of Nigeria Universities Academic, CONUA and his union did not order a strike.
Some students said the ASUU strike was impeding academic programmes on the campus since ASUU parades the largest numbers of members.
Adenitan Akinola
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