The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called on the Federal Government to stop the alleged victimization of its members in public universities. Prof. Abubakar Yabo, Chairman of ASUU’s Sokoto Zone, made this plea while addressing newsmen at the Nigerian Union of Journalist Press Centre in Sokoto.
According to Yabo, the Federal Government has failed to fulfill its agreements with the union, including the release of withheld salaries due to the 2022 strike action. “Some of the agreements include the release of withheld three-and-a-half-month salaries…and the release of unpaid salaries for staff on sabbatical,” he said.
Yabo further stated that the government has resorted to victimization and emotional assault on ASUU members through visitors of state universities and “tyrannical vice chancellors” of federal universities. “The union notes with disdain that while government and respective university administrators are supposed to uphold the truth…they now serve as agents of destruction,” he added.
The union expressed concern over the economic hardships faced by its members due to government policies. “The current economic hardships…have made the teaching and learning environment so unconducive and unbearable,” Yabo said.
ASUU criticized the attitude of some university vice chancellors, accusing them of being “intoxicated with power” and resorting to victimization. “The zone hereby calls on the concerned universities to thread the path of civility and global best practice,” Yabo urged.
The union called on the Federal Government to fulfill its agreements and treat public universities with dignity and respect. “The survival of this nation is tied to the survival of public universities, therefore, let them breathe, Mr. President,” Yabo appealed.
The ASUU Sokoto Zone comprises several universities, including Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Umaru Musa Yaradua University, Kastina, and others.
