The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Tuesday said that the Federal Government has not settled the demands of its university lecturers since the union embarked on strike in February.
Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU President, made this revelation while speaking during an interview on a television session.
The president has accused the federal government of using hunger as an instrument to compel the striking lecturers into going back to their classrooms.
The President of the union said their salaries have been held for the past six months, reaffirming the present government cannot use the force of hunger to force the striking university teachers.
According to the president, federal government has thought that denying the university lecturers of their salaries will compel the university teachers to collapse and put an end to the strike.
“Our salaries have been held, this is the sixth month or salaries have been held. They thought that if they hold our salaries for two or three months we will come begging and say, ‘please allow us to go back to work.
“But we as a union of intellectuals, we have grown beyond that. You can’t use the force of hunger to pull our members back, which is exactly what the Government is doing,” Osodeke said.
The Informant247 observes that the university lecturers union, on February 14, embarked on industrial strike to press home its demands for a better welfare package, revamping of the nation’s education sector, among others, a situation that has forced many Nigerian students to be at home.
Reacting, President Muhammadu Buhari on July 19, directed the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, to find a solution to the challenge and give him feedback in two weeks.