The Workers and Youth Solidarity Network has condemned the ‘no work, no pay’ policy of the Nigerian Government against workers of public universities in the country.
The WYSN, in a statement by its secretary, Dammy Owot said the policy is targeted at members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institution (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), who are currently on strike.
The group noted, “To us in the WYSN, the ‘No work, no pay’ policy is an attempt to intimidate the striking workers. ASUU members haven’t received their salary for three months now in a Federal Government attempt to force them back to work.
“At the same time, the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, has spent N100m on an All Progressives Congress presidential expression of interest and nomination form!
“Despite the crisis in the Universities at the moment, the wives of Vice-Chancellors across Nigerian universities were set to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, for a five-day ‘leadership course!’ The plans were cancelled due to public condemnation.
“The media of the ruling elite are all over the place saying that the ASUU strike hurts the students. It’s clear that the children of the poor people are the ones that attend public schools.
“On the other hand, the children of ruling elites are graduating from different international Universities across developed countries. And the Federal Government is the one to blame for this stalemate. Such hypocrisy!
“Nigeria’s annual budget for education is N1.29 trillion or 7.9%. Though this figure represents an increase compared to last year’s, it is still far too low-UNESCO for example recommends 26% of the budget to be allocated for education.
“We salute the University of Benin students for their courage to hold a protest for two days. Also, some students of the University of Lagos protested two days ago.
“We also extend our solidarity to Obafemi Awolowo University Students for their plan for protest actions. We urge all other university students across Nigeria to mobilise and organise a series of political actions to compel the government to meet ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT’s demands so that schools can be reopened.
“We call on the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to declare total support for ASUU strike and break away from dilly-dallying with a regime that doesn’t care for education.
“We call for unity of staff unions, students, workers and communities to mobilise for mass actions to force the government to back down and meet the demands of University unions.”
News AddThis : Original Author : SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : Click Here to Visit Orignal Source of Article https://saharareporters.com/2022/05/10/nigerian-governments-%E2%80%98no-work-no-pay%E2%80%99-policy-attempt-intimidate-striking-workers-%E2%80%94-group
