By: Israel Ajise & AbdulMuiz Oyekola
Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Ibadan Chapter (ASUU UI), on Monday, held a rally in protest of the payment of half salaries by the Federal Government.
The protesting lecturers were led by the Chairman of the ASUU UI branch, Prof. Ayoola Akinwole.
The aggrieved lecturers, during the peaceful protest, marched from the Faculty of Education to the school main gate; armed with a big banner with the inscription, “Our Demands: Implementation of collectively bargained MOAs and MOUs,
Deployment of University Transparency Accountability Solutions (UTAS), Immediate Release of Visitation Panel Reports, Immediate Payment of Earned Academic Allowance(EAA) among others.”
Some students, led by the Students Union President, Adewole Adeyinka, also joined the protest in solidarity with the lecturers.
The Chairman of ASUU UI, Prof. Akinwole in his address stated that:
“We have come here today, to tell the government we will not leave this country to them. The present government is one of the most lawless government Nigeria has ever had. This country belongs to all of us. A government that is merciless in meeting all its policies on the working class.
“Comrades this is a peaceful protest and we are telling Nigerians, this country belongs to all of us. We say no to all these treatments. Today the Academic Staff Union, Ibadan Zone has called this protest to tell the government to fulfil agreement willingly reached with unions.”
“It’s a government that will deduct money from workers and not remit it to the appropriate authorities.”
The Chairman ended his address by asking “Why will a government steal money from its own people?”
The UISU President, Adewale Adeyinka while speaking, argued that mentioned that “a slap on ASUU is a slap on Nigerian students and today our solidarity is for ASUU because education is our right.”
Also speaking, Former treasurer of ASUU at the national level, comrade Ademola Aremu stated that:
“We want to rescue this country from the misfits. We want to rescue this country from the federal government. My children are students in the University of Ibadan. There is no way we can teach science courses in abstract. In some universities, students have their classes under the trees. We want government to invest in education. You see some of these people celebrating the graduation of their children abroad. When they started with primary and secondary school we didn’t talk. They bastardized the public primary and secondary schools. As critical stakeholders that is why we must come out. Some of the people ruling us don’t have evidence of primary school certificate. We are not casual labourers.”
