We Are Not Striking For Salary- ASUU Boss

The striking lecturers of Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Nkpolu, Port Harcourt have said that they are not demanding for double or consolidated salary from the Rivers State Government.

Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the state university, Dr. Felix Igwe who made the clarification in exclusive interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt last week explained that the lecturers are demanding for the implementation of the agreement reached between the federal government and ASUU for federal and state universities since 2009.

Dr. Igwe further said that a section of the agreement deals with salary structure in the university system in the country including state owned universities.

Besides, he pointed out that there are sections of the agreement which stipulate how university should be adequately funded depending on the students enrolment and programmes run by the university.

Others include establishment of budget monitoring committee to be drawn from representatives of students union, academic and non-academic staff and university governing council, retirement age for professors and health insurance scheme among others.

Describing the agreement as all inclusive for the proper running of the university system the ASUU boss said it was wrong for anybody to narrow their agitation to money or any other favour from the government.

The ASUU boss, however, assured that the striking lecturers are ever ready to dialogue with the state government in order to end the four months old industrial dispute now rocking the university.

Also, he claimed that inspite of the favourable disposition of ASUU for dialogue on the implementation of the agreement, no government official had approached the union in any dialogue as to how to resolve the industrial dispute.

Although, he acknowledged that strike was not the best option to address the matter but said the union adopted it when the union allegedly exhausted all avenues to prevail on the government.

“We are saying that given that it is possible that all aspects of the agreement may not be implementable immediately, we can dialogue to agree that this is what you can implement now and this is what you can implement later”, Dr. Igwe emphatically stated.

Dr. Igwe used the opportunity to thank members of  Rivers State Advisory Council for intervening in the matter while appealing to other stakeholders in the state to join hand in saving the university from being isolated by other universities in the country which are centrally regulated.

Isaac Nwankwo