By Huldah Shado
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has rejected the Federal Government’s newly launched Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund, a loan scheme offering up to N10 million to academic and non-academic staff.
Rising from its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, on Tuesday, the union demanded instead the immediate release of three-and-a-half months’ withheld salaries of its members.
ASUU President, Christopher Piwuna, in a communiqué issued after the meeting, faulted the government’s move to list the union among beneficiaries of the loan scheme, describing it as an attempt to make ASUU a “guarantor of loans it knows nothing about.”
The union further urged the Federal Government to fast-track the renegotiation and implementation of the ongoing FG-ASUU agreement, led by the Yayale Ahmed Committee, stressing that collective bargaining must be respected.
To press its demands, ASUU announced plans to embark on nationwide protests, accusing the government of insincerity and delay in addressing long-standing issues affecting university lecturers.
The Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund, unveiled last week by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, offers zero-interest loans to staff of tertiary institutions. But ASUU insists that payment of withheld salaries, not loans, is the real solution to its members’ welfare challenges.
