Academic activities have been paralysed at the University of Ibadan, Ladoke Akintola University and University of Ilorin campuses as lecturers continue to prosecute the one-month strike declared by their union to pressure government to sign renegotiated conditions of service for lecturers among other demands.
The universities which are in the Ibadan zone of the union yesterday, held their respectively congresses presided over by their chairpersons with a resolve to ensure that lecturers would not teach nor attend any statutory meeting while the strike lasts.
The congresses which were presided over the Professors Ayo Akiwole (UI), Olaniran Abiodun (LAUTECH) and Moyosore Ajao (UNILORIN), ended with the activation of strike monitoring committees to ensure that all members obey the directive of the union.
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The strike is already having effect on activities relating to academics and processing of final oral examinations for doctoral students and academic seminars are put on hold until after the strike.
While speaking, Professor Ayo Akinwole, Abiodun Olaniran and Moyosore Ajao, maintained that while ASUU was pained by the warning strike, adding that it can no longer subject the welfare of her members to evasive tactics of the Federal Government.
The trio stated that the union felt that rather than going full blown strike, it should, in the interest of the students, embark on the one-month warning strike to see if government would have done the needful, saying that failure to do so will ultimately leave the lecturers with no choice than embark on indefinite strike.
According to the chairman University of Ibadan Chapter, Professor Akinwole, the demands of the union include signing of renegotiated agreements which bother on the salaries and conditions of service of lecturers, mainstreaming of earned academic allowances and releasing of white paper report on federal government visitation panel among others.
The union leader, noted that the strike monitoring team will ensure total compliance adding that: “our members feel the pain and have showed commitment to the struggle. They know it is for us to fight for our destinies and be better treated after staying on the same conditions of service for thirteen years despite the hardship in the country.”
“The same lecturers who are giving second to nothing still struggle to put the name of Nigeria on global ranking of universities despite poor investment in education by the federal government.”
“We have reached a point when we are saying treat us well, give us a new welfare system and sound conditions of service so that our members can live good lives and enjoy the fruit of their labour.”
At the university of Ibadan, lecture rooms in Faculties of Arts, the Social Sciences, Science, among others were opened but empty as lecturers made good their threat withdrawing their services from classrooms, while students were seeing doing paper documentation with non-teaching staff and discussing the strike in groups.
Throughout one-month strike, supervision of students will also be affected.
