The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced an indefinite strike at Gombe State University (GSU) due to unresolved welfare issues.
In a statement to the press on Wednesday, ASUU branch Chairman Dr. Suleiman Salihu Jauro explained that the strike was prompted by deteriorating teaching and learning conditions at the university.
He noted that the union had previously pursued other avenues to resolve the issues without achieving any significant outcomes.
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“Some of the issues are the non-implementation of the 2021 Memorandum of Action (MoA) between the ASUU and the state government, on increasing funding for the university and non-payment of accumulated Earned Academic Allowances (EAA).
“Another major components of the 2021 MoA which the government reneged is the provision of N50 million to the university per annum. Almost four years after signing the agreement, the state government is yet to pay a kobo for that purpose,” Dr Jauro said.
The ASUU chairman expressed frustration over the non-payment of the EAA for more than five years, which has led to staff difficulties in managing excessive workloads despite poor working conditions.
Dr. Jauro also pointed out that, although Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya signed the N30,000 minimum wage into law in 2020, the university has not implemented it, leaving employees with the outdated 2012 salary scale.
He further highlighted issues such as the non-payment of promotion arrears for four years and the failure to implement the 35 percent and 25 percent wage awards for academic staff.
The union stated that the government’s failure to fulfill the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) left them with no choice but to initiate the indefinite strike.
He appealed to students and parents to understand the union’s situation and urged them to pressure the government to address the issues.
This is the first time in the 20-year history of GSU that the academic staff have initiated an internal strike.
In an attempt to prevent the strike, the state government approved N265 million last week for the payment of promotion arrears.
However, Dr. Jauro noted that they have yet to receive the funds and only learned about the approval through newspaper reports.
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